LOVE

Love does not dominate; it cultivates.

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A breeze oscillates in the trees, moving leaf and branch, changing the formation of shade upon the ground. The air is cool against my skin where the sun is absent, and I ponder what’s lost.

Love certainly isn’t.

People sometimes are. Situations. Dreams. Jobs. Money or homes. And many other things that come to mind, but love, once felt, is never lost, even if the feeling of said love is no longer current.

Love, a nourishing ray of light, fills the void between the particles of breath and movement, like static electricity that sparks when two people touch. There are various forms and shapes of love, with whom and for how long, enduring the onslaught of time.

We all have memories, moments, seconds, that stick in the mind whenever we remember someone or something.

A smell can expose our lost love or remind us our love still sits next to us. A particular song may play and we find ourselves transported, surrounded by love, whether lost or not.

Love cultivates threads of memory, forever interwoven with our present days, as well as our future ones, encouraging us to love again.

Though we may have times where the perceived loss of love distills in us a desire to never love again, this is folly for love is what lifts our spirits and eases our minds.

Love lost, removed from this earth through death, is physically gone but always present. We need only reach toward love’s essence and know that love is ours, if we wish.

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Image Source: Lori Stroup