“Yeah, But Not Like This…”

“Yeah, But Not Like This…”
By Mark Anthony Vigo

Artwork by A. Reynoso

***
I’ve been in love before

I know the feeling

Its warm embrace

The smell of it sweetly lingers

Like warmth from the sun,

Long gone, still caressing my face

 

It was a sweet love, uncontested

But true love nonetheless

My young heart, knew no better

To me, this was love

As I thought

It should be

 

As time went by

My definition of love evolved

Changing, growing, almost dying

Somehow surviving

Adapting to circumstances

Beyond my control

While still striving

To understand this thing

That we call love

 

Love is deep, not fickle

Never trivial, it’s unconditional

Not affected by the whims

Of some “info-mercial” pitchman

Love runs deeper than all emotions

It is the basis for our entire being

But you would never know this

Until the time comes

When love gets tested

By one of the many forces

That abound, around us

Like vultures,

Circling for a fresh carcass

Upon which to feed

We must resist these forces

And fight them off

Never yielding to their cynicism or rancor

This love I feel is worth fighting for

It’s given me the strength to carry on

When all else was lost

And the outcome was as hopeless as all hell

This love has sustained me

It’s never forsaken me

It’s always stood by me

To catch me, if I should fall

 

This love I feel, overwhelms me

At times, immensely

Barely contained within my heart

Overflowing

The years go by

And it keeps growing, and growing

Hardships and tribulations

Have put this love to the test

Like no other

Made it stronger

Though at times I suffered

I knew this love would hold me

No matter what.

 

It is that faith, that belief

That this love is all I need

To make it through all, that this life

Lays before me

You see, with this love, I am good

This love I know now is so different

From what I knew then

To compare, it’s as different

As different can be

It is vaster, it reaches farther

It encompasses all of me, fully

No part, untouched

This love, so strong

It will remain, long after my demise

Within the hearts of those

I hold dearly to mine

So when you see me on the street

And you ask me

“Was that love you felt before?”

I will speak plainly

“Was that love, I felt before?”

Yes it was, but the love I feel now

Far surpasses that

Like the sun in the moon’s eclipse

Was it love?

Yes it was.

It was love?

Oh yes, it was!

But was it Love?

Yeah

          but

                   not

                           like

this…

©Mark Anthony Vigo 2015