Love is All You Need

ℒ𝒪𝒱ℰ ℐ𝒮 𝒩𝒪𝒯 𝒜 𝒩𝒪𝒰𝒩

Love is not a person you view from afar

ensconced like a statue in the corner

They can’t rectify your folly

Aren’t at your beck and call

won’t serve your shifting moods

Respect doesn’t grow with volume

nor shrink when you ignore

it’s pleading bawl

Passion can’t stand in perpetual vigil

waiting for your whole-hearted belief

in forever’s thrall

💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️

Love’s not a place you happen upon

Return to satisfy a craving

No amount of conquered love map will ever

relieve your basic yearning

Running from meet-cute to tear-smeared

dissolution doesn’t gain you miles in some

race to adoration’s ultimate destination

💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️

It’s not an object to be owned and hoarded

You can’t collect devotion on your shelf of

mint condition boxed collectables

and bobble heads

Asking questions to a chorus of

brainless nodding

ℒ𝒪𝒱ℰ ℐ𝒮 𝒩𝒪𝒯 𝒜𝒩 𝒜𝒟𝒥ℰ𝒞𝒯ℐ𝒱ℰ

It’s not a magical sonnet of charming

store-bought words, rosy and lilting

not a shroud of pedastle-bound thoughts

It doesn’t need an ornament you bought

can’t cleverly paint over cracks in the foundation

Love is all-consuming, not a thin

gauzy layer glittering in superficial hues

ℒ𝒪𝒱ℰ ℐ𝒮 𝒩𝒪𝒯 𝒜𝒩 ℐ𝒩𝒯ℰℛ𝒥ℰ𝒞𝒯ℐ𝒪𝒩

It’s not meant to punctuate with

hard learned lessons

Not a constant nagging question

Or a quippy one-liner

pulled out as a reminder of

your wit and mastery

ℒ𝒪𝒱ℰ ℐ𝒮 𝒜 𝒱ℰℛℬ

How you demonstrate

the fullness of your heart

The choices you make

proven in every action you take

It means learning new ways and

leaving old ones behind

Building traditions that

stand the test of time

Realizing being wrong is fine

changing is divine

💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️

Acts of love

consume energy

require commitment to the task

On occasion, fall

surprisingly flat

Because gestures aren’t

coins in a bank, but

the weave at the seam

you keep tightening

day by day, week after week

💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️

The state of love isn’t easily fallen into

It’s built and maintained

Individuals trying to create a whole

Putting in the work to become better for it

someone worth sharing

someone worth living for

K.B. Silver

💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️💕⃝🕊️ 💕⃝🕊️💕⃝🕊️

The concept of romantic and sexual love has been heavily distorted by the media, whether that be movies or books; we are guilty here, too, writers. The ideal seems great, but real love is work; to love is a verb. It is an action that both parties must participate in for it to work properly. Sitting back and being lavished with attention sounds great in theory, but it will only last so long, because the imbalance will breed discontent.

Some of us were raised in dysfunctional environments where certain amounts of imbalance were inherent or seen as correct. It makes it hard to break free and rise above continuing the cycle of perpetuating these harmful ideas, but we must. These expectations go both ways; some men were raised with the expectation that their female partners would do double duty, working and handling all the household chores to “take care of them.” While some women grew up learning things like “if Mom isn’t happy, no one is happy.” Watching the matriarch terrorize the family and be praised for it.

Choosing new dynamics and new family structures than the ones we were raised with isn’t abandoning societal norms; it is correcting in areas where improvement was needed. Creating families where everyone is loved, cared for, and fulfilled shouldn’t be a radical shift; it should be the norm.