For Tom and Cat Driscoll on their marriage

Love:

I walked in the land of the three

Moons, where the wolf lies down with

The lamb, there to find the oldest

Partners to ask them, what is love?

“Love changes and deepens. It is not always 

The fiery inferno experienced in early days.  

Nurture it as you would a delicate flower

And it will grow, change and bloom.”

The two suns chasing the moons from

The sky, I searched then for young lovers

As they, in their innocence and sheer joy,

Walked hand in hand, in their inner paradise. 

“New love burns like an internal fire, bringing

Madness and ecstasy, often in equal measure.  

Separation can bring pain.  Beauty seen 

Without your lover to share it with hurts.”

So, on I slowly continued, beside a chortling

Stream, fish darting, scales scintillating in the 

Sun’s light as a kingfisher flashed down for 

Lunch; I found two lovers bathing there.

“Love is union, two bodies entwining, being 

One, wanting, needing, healthily lusting,

Laughing and then more wild, or languid, 

Loving. With our bodies, we each worship.”

On I travelled, through the wide, fresh-green 

Meadows of the two rivers, in search of a wise 

Hermit who dwelled by a silent lake, eating 

Only lotus leaves, and asked her, what is love?

“It is pain free compromise, give and take,

Looking for agreement around middle ground.

Sometimes it is admitting that you are wrong

Even when you know that you are not.”

I walked then to an Ale House, set in a tiny

Village which was tucked into a pocket at

The side of a gently rolling hill, and there

Asked my question of a very wobbly man.

“Love is knowing when to lie to your partner 

And when not to. If you are asked if her 

Bottom looks big in this, before you go out

You tell the truth.  If it’s after, then you lie.”

I travelled further through these enchanted 

Lands of singing rivers, burping frogs acting 

As orchestra to accompany their songs.  There

I asked of a thoughtful Tyrant, recently retired.

“It is not about dominance, or psychological

Warfare. Love will wither and die if one being 

Feels the need to dominate the other; if that is 

So, it needs must cease.  So I’ve now learned.”

I asked then Melania, his Queen whose beauty 

The Tyrant had coveted as a trophy, and who, 

Finishing her inner weeping, was learning to 

Smile and find hope in her new-born spouse.

“Point scoring against each other, unless it is 

In jest, is vile and dangerous, and thinking that 

You possess your partner has no place in love,

Leading to true love eroding and its death.”

I flew then, on broad-winged Pegasus, through 

Air enchanted by unicorn song and odours of

Sweet blossoms, and sought she who had lost 

Her true love, yet still held him in her heart.

“Be you caring and nurture each blessed day,

Love becomes also friendship, your lover, 

Your best friend. You think it so when first 

You love.  This is seldom true. Strive!”

I flew on through the wild and snow-peaked

Mountains to ask of love from two wise

Philosophers, wed to each other, both atop

Their own summit, holding each other’s hand.

“Love requires space for both but also 

Exploring shared passions and understandings.

It is, too, a true expression of love not to force

Your partner to share all that animates you.

On again I travelled, over the gentle waters to

A gold flaked isle where a principled Owl

Was oracle, his hooted wisdom discernible 

To all, it was said, and there I learned yet more.

“Love is about empathy, trying to understand 

And feel the why and wherefore of your lover,

Walking a mile in your partner’s shoes, really

And deeply searching to feel what they feel.”

I waved farewell as I departed that gilded isle

And floated in search of new shores, where 

There stood a silver statue which assented to 

Speak as a prophet for the Goddess Aphrodite. 

“Love requires grace.  What is grace?  Grace is 

Pure acceptance without judgement; grace to 

Receive praise; grace to give true forgiveness; 

Grace to be forgiven; humble grace in love.”

On dragon-back I continued my search for

Wisdom about that which makes us feel most 

Alive, though not pledging happiness, and 

There by a lake listened to a Willow weeping.

“Love is a thing you need to treasure, to hold 

Firm after a spat or hurt, when it is hardest.  

Remember your love and nurture it, cherish it, 

Even when you are aching or in a rage.”

My next steps took me to the Rainbow City

Where a night-black unicorn with a platted tail

And a wedding ring upon her front left hoof

Answered me and echoed thus the Willow:

“Love needs to be cherished and cultivated.

Don’t take it for granted. Do not forget, 

Especially when times are hard, that through 

This love from this person, you are blessed.”

Again I journeyed, now through a lush green

Valley where butterflies flitted and sang

Soft songs, and there I met a couple, both

Holding a bouquet of flowers, who said:

“Love is about feeling special and making

Your partner feel likewise, but not resenting

That it’s not possible all of the time.  Be aware 

That the brightest candle can burn shortest.”

On I continued my voyage along an exquisite 

Beach by a sea of aquamarine.  Here I met a 

Small creature, sweet, delicate featured and 

Rainbow-winged, a child’s tooth in her hand.

“Love is about small things, the unnecessary 

Gentle touch and kiss, an unexpected, ‘I love 

You’ and celebrations of non-birth days. Gifts, 

Too.  The reason? The elation in your love.”

My next visit was with a mystic, two headed

Creature of great beauty, both heads now

Smiling, content, but bodily a little creased 

From trying to pull one way or another.

“Love is thinking about your partner before 

Yourself, and knowing they do the same for 

You.  It is also about accepting that you

Won’t always manage this, either of you.”

At the end of my journey in search of love’s

Meaning I met an emaciated man who

Leaned against wire fencing, tall chimneys

Behind him belching foul smelling smoke.

“Love is what you hold on to when there is 

Nothing left to hold on to, nothing left to live 

For, no rational hope - but that certainty of 

Love gives meaning to struggling on.”

At the same fence, standing unseen by the 

Emaciated man, supporting his wrecked body 

Was an Angel, or some such.  To her I asked 

The same question and she answered me thus.

“Love is varied, individual and twixt two

People, whatever their gender, age, creed

Colour, political affiliation or any other

Irrelevant ‘difference’.  Love is personal.” 

She gently laid the man’s body down, his last 

Expression a smile, and she spoke on. “It 

Brings more to lives than wealth, or comfort – 

Is indeed supreme and part of the God-head.”

I bowed my thanks and turned then from that 

Horrific place and saw even there, there was 

Bird-song and the sun and a man who smiled

His last breath because his love made him free.

As I walked away I pondered.  Love is not a 

Simple thing, not to find, nor to keep.  If one 

Has the good fortune to feel it and it to be 

Reciprocated, treasure that magical flower.