Tears

today, I asked the dictionary a question,
how do you define Love?

it gave me a bunch of answers:

a profoundly tender, passionate
affection for another

a feeling of warm personal attachment
or deep affection, as for a parent,
child, or friend

sexual passion or desire

then, I posed the same question
to the palm trees of my precious
town of Loíza

their roots digging deeper into the soil,
softly whispered,

it is a vow of enduring commitment
to let us stay here, in our home

their towering trunks slowly swaying
in the cool Caribbean breeze, murmured,

it means holding our destroyers responsible
for the greed of taking a land not theirs

those long & slender leaves
tickling each other in the passing wind, cried,

it is a promise to not replace us
with cement and stone,
brick and wire fences

but, the dictionary cannot hear
the sobbing of this Mother Earth

and I realize
the world is losing its humanity

I also understand that today
is yesterday’s tomorrow,
and there will be many more todays
with the same impossible question
about Love

still, my heart holds hope
that the verdant landscape
of my beautiful Loíza will prevail

because in defining Love
everything is possible