Love Demands Courage

When you fell in love
Did the Earth move beneath you?
Or did love surround you
Slowly like gentle waves
You hardly noticed until
They reached your heart?

In others’ stories,We listen for our ownOf love that lastedSixty yearsOr five monthsOr three days.

Have you waited
As I have
For someone to call?
Or did you
Wait by the phone,
Picking it up
Putting it down
And picking it up again?

Have you stood nextTo your beloved,Angry and tiredAnd thinking,If you say, “I am sorry,” first,I will say it, too?

Have you wondered
If your heart could
Bear the grief of
Your beloved’s passing?

Love demands courageLoving sometimes takesAll that we have.

Whether you are single
Or part of a pair.
Newly in love
Or in love for so long
You cannot remember

Love demands courageLoving sometimes takesAll that we have.