March 29, 2022
Awkwardly expressing feelings and not knowing any better,
We would write “love” as we signed off on a letter
Or a yearbook or the back of a school picture.
And then as we began to express love romantically,
We stopped writing “love’ because of its specificity,
Supposedly given to just a “one and only.”
But we continue to love all around,
To friends and family, and those we care about,
In fact, love these days is a commodity sorely lacking.
To love Friends as a sister or a brother,
To have soulmates amongst each other,
We’d have less strife and war if love drove our thinking.
Why can’t I write “Love, “ on a message to a friend,
Without it being misconstrued or misinterpreted in the end,
As something awkward, or worse a betrayal?
For these are the people we care about,
Upon whom we rely and cannot do without.
Trying to “hang in there” through the craziness of life.
And so weird how Friendship transcends the romantic,
With more staying power and so less frantic,
Than the awkward misconceptions of our youth.
So, maybe we should stop getting hung up on the words,
The euphemisms shouldn’t make love so blurred,
After all, saying “take care”still just means “I love you.”