MY SEARING LOVE

“Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly.” - Proverb

Love sustains and consumes the world. It keeps us going in times of hardship, easing our distress, but at the same time causing us as much pain as it gives pleasure. When we lack it, we are miserable, but even when we are in love we often are even more miserable. The maddening contradictory emotions of love disrupt our equilibrium and run through our fragile equanimity like a cyclone that wreaks havoc wherever it passes.

Here is a poem I wrote some time ago when very much in love. I view that time now with some bemusement. It was as though I were gravely sick then. After that serious illness, a slow recovery and a gradual return to normality. Now that I simply love and am loved, how wonderful is this feeling of temperate and gentle interdependence that this stable, simple love rich in affection, caring companionship and contentment offers. And yet, the maelstrom of that time of being in love has left indelible sweet memories, not only painful ones.

My Searing Love

My searing love ignites my senses,
A scalding sun that scorches
My every fibre.
No rain,
No river,
No lake,
Can quench it.

My fevered love sears my brow,
Makes my flesh red-hot,
My soul now incandescent.
No ice,
No snow,
No frost,
Can cool it.

My fiery love consumes my being,
A furnace, burning white-hot,
Setting my heart in flames.
No river,
No sea,
No ocean,
Can extinguish it.

My searing love only to be assuaged by
Your single tear shed only for me.
My fevered love only to be cooled down by
Your refreshing touch as you caress me.
My fiery love only to be doused by
Your revitalising words of love,
That first smother the fire,
Then re-ignite it once again afresh…