How can I say I thank you
for the mixed bag of emotions
which I will call Love
for want of a better word –
which I learned at your knee
whilst having no inkling
of even being schooled…
Love is nurturing
– on a physical level
of feeding at least
and on the mental level
of stimulation
with books and ideas
and even a trip
around the world
Love is safety and
love is the absence of danger
which is not necessarily
the same thing
Love is consistency
which can go a long way
towards making up
for other deficiencies
Love is giving a sense of
who you are and
what your place is
in the wider world
– it is not sufficient
to teach you to talk to
anyone from a tramp to the Queen
if you don’t know what you want to say.
Imposter syndrome is
as transferrable as
a gene for diabetes
and like that disease
it will be a long time
before you even figure out
you have it – and what “It” is
there is no gene sequencer
for emotional baggage…
We learn to love like
layers of an onion
and so much depends
on the fertility of the soil
which is that original family
and however crooked
the plant grows –
be glad if you at least
had a family.
Love starts with a teat
your mother’s if you are lucky
or perhaps a bottle
freely given on demand
Love expands too
if you are lucky enough
to have siblings –
you add another layer
to your personal culture
when you go to school
when you expand your horizons
to town, country and
however much of the world
you are lucky enough to encounter
If you are not lucky
and your bulb grows amongst stones,
is not fed good food and
stimulation for the mind –
if you encounter trauma
by loss, violence or abuse
your multilayered onion
will reflect its origins…
Eventually you may break away
from the family home,
home town
and learn of other loves
but your affinity has
already set by
earlier lessons learned
This one is never secure
That one is self-centred
This one is restless
and That one puts up with
rather than taking care of themselves
Love is as varied as
the human beings who practise it
and the combinations in couples
as varied as the genes
they may mesh together
in the lottery of life
But lucky or unlucky
everybody needs to know
what they learned of love
and work out what works
for them and those they love…
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Posted for Open Link Night at dVerse the Poets Pub
” the mixed bag of emotions
which I will call Love”
Amazing poem.
Much♡love
Thank you Gillena – will you be there tomorrow?
Such a thoughtful commentary on what love is and how one learns it–and how it develops, or doesn’t. We don’t always think about how we’ve learned it, or how we’ve taught it.
Thanks Merril, I will read this tomorrow and hope to see you there…
How can a one syllable word mean so many things… and to describe that mixed bag of emotions brings in so many perspective.
BTW — when describing such complex matters it can be even better to write everything that it’s not. We had a prompt for that some time ago…
Thank you Björn, and I will try that idea out soon…
This is very nuanced and complex and relatable and provocative.
Especially:
Imposter syndrome is
as transferrable as
a gene for diabetes
– and –
there is no gene sequencer
for emotional baggage
– and –
your multilayered onion
will reflect its origins
I’ll be thinking about all of this for a long time. There are universal truths in your poem, but there’s also the profound capacity for healing that we all have. That’s what I pick up from the last verse.
You are right Kim – much of the poem reads as deterministic but the last verse offers the possibility of defeating or changing that path…
“Love is as varied as the human beings who practise it..” this poem has my heart! Stunning write ❤️❤️
Thank you Sanaa – I wrote this in my writing group where the combination of the poems we analyse and take prompts from and the focus of writing for just 30 minutes seems to work well for me and I stream things without over thinking them…
Thanks for your comment 💜
So very observant and wise. This stanza especially resonated with me:
“Love is safety and
love is the absence of danger
which is not necessarily
the same thing”
Even I can’t say exactly what that means, Sunra, or where it materialised from but it feels like a truth…
Andrew I feel like I just read one of the Psalms. Appreciate your prayer and hope it can light the way for some. My thoughts about love are along the lines of Joni Mitchell’s song, “Both Sides Now.”
Indeed Lisa, poems sometimes feel like prayers – thanks for that…
Your treatise on love is epic and in your truly amazing / unforgettable words, love / everything it encompasses “as varied as the human beings who practise it.”
Thank you so much Helen…
Love is as varied as
the human beings who practise it
Indeed.
The transmutation from familial love to romantic love is complex…
Andrew, this flows beautifully and speaks love, I so enjoyed hearing you read – that makes a difference.
Several people said they experienced it differently after hearing it but you went the other way around, I wonder how it was different for them and for you, Paul…
Andrew, you captured the many splendours of love so beautifully!
Thank you Punam…
“and however crooked
the plant grows –
be glad if you at least
had a family.”
Difficult to share this sentiment but I do try.
Your family appears to be thriving and whether that is because of what you are channeling of your own family or despite it, either way it either made you or gave you something to kick back against and work out a better way…