love thing

for all to read. a poem by pablo neruda.....
--------------------------------------------------------

I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul

I love you as the plant that never blooms, but carries
in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love, a certain solid fragrance, risen from the earth,
lives darkly in my body

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride,
So I love you because I know no other way than this,

Where "I" does not exist,

nor "you"

so close that your hand on my chest is MY hand;
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep
-----------------------------------------------------------------
......one of the most beautiful poems ever written.

because what is love but than the integration of one being into another. the combination of soul and arms and legs into one cohesive being. love is the adhesive which sticks us all together, whether we want it to or not. the refusal of love is the refusal of oxygen; it's impossible to carry on with the "day-to-days" without the presence of love. without it, we are fish out of water; not flopping around like in cartoons, but dead, like in real life. we die without love. what is your love? who is your love? the accepted norm is that another person has to be the sole center of your affection, but that is certainly debatable. the public's belief that a person without a significant other is a person without love, is ridiculous beyond explanation. love abounds in places you don't expect; love grows in even the darkest places; love is the sunlight. or if need be, love is the darkness that provides protection for those who may feel to ugly to be shined upon.

love, in all its form and guises, will certainly be that one thing that could save us all...

if only we'd allow it to