A Dance with Love's Sharp Edges

My Mama said to me today,
"True love is not all fun and games,
It twists you up and tears you in two,
Though still you think your lover's great."
These words struck deep within my heart,
And made me ponder love's cruel part.

For love can build you up so high,
Then dash your dreams down from the sky.
It grips your soul with tenderness,
Then strikes with bruising forcefulness.
Love's hands can cherish and caress,
Or clench into a fist's distress.

Love floods your being with its light,
Then leaves you groping blind in night.
It lifts your spirit on its wings,
Then to the ground your psyche flings.
Love feels like heaven's sweetest kiss,
Then stabs your back with cruelty's blade.

For love exposes all your flaws,
It sees the cracks within your walls.
Bares your wounds and brings you pain,
Then salves the hurts to heal again.
Love knows your heart and reads your mind,
Still somehow cares for what it finds.  

Love shares your joy and eases sorrow,
Gives strength to face uncertainty's morrow.
It whispers hope when nights are long,
And adds sweet music to your song.
Love overlooks your gravest sin,
For it sees the goodness deep within.

But oh, love's ecstasy has a cost,
For it leaves you shattered when it's lost.
The pain love brings cuts quick and deep,
And lingers on when eyes can't weep.
Love ravages the broken soul,
When winds of change begin to blow.

For love must risk the pain of loss,
To gain the joys that come across.
My Mama's words hold truth profound-
Love builds us up then tears us down.
But in the breaking, love reveals  
The strength within that loss conceals.

For only those who've hurt can know
The depths to which love's roots can grow.
Only those who've wept in pain
See the beauty when joy regains.   
Love's wounds can teach compassion's grace
And patience for the human race.

Love's deepest anguish carves a space
For wisdom, empathy, and faith.  
For love matures in trial's fire,
And lifts our spirits ever higher.
The hurts love causes change our sight,  
So we see others in new light.

Like phoenix rising from the flame,
From loss and pain new life we gain.
For this is love's most violent act-
It breaks us open to become more whole.
And once love's power has had its way,
Our souls are larger, healed, and bold.

So do not fear love's searing pain,
Let not its hurt drive joy away.
For love's true goal is to refine-
Burning off the chaff until the gold shines.
Love wounds not to cripple but to mend,
And every breaking makes us more whole again.   

My Mama said love's violence brings
A gift if we but learn its means-
It opens up our hearts to share  
Compassion for our fellow's care.
It broadens minds once shut away
To understand a different way.

It tears down walls built hard and high
To open windows to the sky.
Love shakes us free from comfort's cell,
To live and love and learn new tales.
So now I see behind love's force
Is purpose, meaning, not remorse.   

Love breaks what's brittle, worn, and old
So stronger, brighter life unfold.
For this is how the heart expands-  
From the genesis of loving hands.
For even when we're bowed down and weak,
The violent truth of love we speak.

So I will welcome all love's pain,
Let it purge and cleanse and drain.
I'll endure love's deepest cuts and blows,
For now I comprehend how a heart grows.   
I will rejoice in wounds love bears,
For I see how weeping leads to care.
I'll not run or hide from loves cruel knife,
For its violence cures and gives life.

This violent love makes beauty rise
From tragedy's ashes to the skies.
And now I know its wounds are meant  
To teach that love lives on lament.
So now when love bruises my soul,
I'll ask, "How can this make me whole?"

Rather than resist love's cuts and breaks,
I'll search for what new life it makes.
For now I've learned what Mama said-
Love stays through hurt and tears once shed.
Love does not leave us when it's tough,
But shows we're worthy of enough.  

So now love's violence I understand-
It takes a strong, bold heart and hand
To love through pain and sorrow and strife,
Knowing it deepens our soul's life.
So bring on love, with your cuts and blows-  
I know how a garden grows.   

Your strokes may hurt and crush me low,  
But new life will bloom and fruit will grow.
For now I see love's wounds are meant  
To open me to joy unspent.
So I will sing while love takes its toll,
For it's refining and maturing my soul.

I do not fear love's wounds and pain,
For now I know how hearts are trained.
To love through hurt and grieve and loss
Shows the true depth of love across.
So come, love, do your work in me,
Make me more who I long to be.

Cut deep into my heart's crevice,  
Expose my flaws so I learn empathy.
Bring down my walls and open my eyes  
To see the world through others' cries.
Crack me wide open to expand
My vision, my care, my loving hands.  

This is love's most violent act-
Breaking us open to become more whole.
Tearing us down so we're built anew.
Loving beyond what we think we can do.  
Staying true when the darkness descends.
Standing strong, holding on, right to the end.

So Mama, you helped me comprehend-
Love keeps loving through sorrow and pain.
It sees the whole heart, knows the cost,
And loves us still despite all we've lost.
So now I know loves lives in the space
Where pain carves room for wisdom and grace.

I thank you Mama for teaching me this-
Love grows stronger through heartache's abyss.
Your words have stretched my small heart indeed,
And helped me grasp what my soul did need.
So bring on love, with your cuts so deep,
I know in the end, my heart you will keep.

For now I know love's deepest truth-
It stands with us through our joy and pain's proof.  
It loves who we are and who we can be,  
If we let love do its work patiently.
So Mama, thank you for helping me see,
Love loves deeply by loving violently.

























   The poem is part of a full version found in the book “Homo Sapiens” Part Part I - XVIII, written by Mawphniang Napoleon. This book is part of the popular “Homo Sapiens” book series, which can be purchased online at various online bookstores, such as Amazon. The book is available for purchase for those who are interested in reading the complete version of the poem. Remember to get all the books from the “Homo Sapiens” series, as well as other books by the same author.   So, don’t hesitate and get a copy today from one of the many online bookstores.   Khublei Shihajar Nguh,  (Dhanewad  )(Thank you )