Poetry
Originally published in Kula Manu, sponsored by Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
First prize in Kula Manu and second prize in the 2018 Valentine's Day Poetry Writing Contest, sponsored by Brigham Young University-Hawaii Reading-Writing Center.
Love is a Lie
The movies lie
They tell you love is roses and wine and lipstick
The color red and sunsets and being swept off your feet
In the movies the boy carries the girl
over the threshold and
She giggles and oh boy
it’s true love.
The books lie
They tell you love is a shape
That it’s first sight, all at once, like magic
The scent of cloves and the near death experiences
In the books it’s always the best friend or the boy next door
and he confesses his love
and oh my
It’s goals.
The songs lie
Love is not little black dresses and partying and loud declarations
The catchy choruses and happily ever afters
The songs lie
They all lie
Love isn’t fabricated or seamless or perfect.
Love is the way your dog greets you when you first get home
like it’s been a hundred years since you left
even if it’s only been an hour
Love is hugging your spouse when they get home after
a six-month overseas deployment
Love is your friend sharing their Hulu password
or bringing you dinner when all they had was Top Ramen themselves
Love is a handwritten note
A saved seat in a crowded room
The quiet comfortable silence in your company
A promise to sit there and let you cry on their favorite shirt over something stupid
but so important in the moment
Love is the atoning sacrifice of a brother on a cross
who gave everything for my salvation
Love is real and honest and gritty
Love is not the lies the world feeds you
It is so much more.
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© Sydney Springer 2018
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