Love Poem: What Is Love?
Lorrie Scheider Avatar
Written by: Lorrie Scheider

What Is Love?

What is love if it is not the selfless,
Wholehearted joy in another’s fortune?
If it is not the thrill at another’s joy?

If it is not the longing for another’s happiness,
Then what is love at all?

Real love remains untainted by bitter negativity,
By possessiveness and jealousy.
By human nature’s poisons and insecurities.

Love is the power to grant freedom, to trust, to adore.
So, what is love if not the warm and carefree feeling?
A heart brimming full of laughter and light?

If these emotions are not love, 
Then who can claim to love at all?

Love is not a need, or desire, nor is it the want of flesh.
Love is the simple pleasure of another’s company,
The sharing, sometimes, the sacrifice,
The ultimate willingness to put another first.
The hunger to make another happy.
The need to dry their tears,
To tend their ill health,
To help them be all that they can be.
To inspire their dreams,
Cultivate ambitions
And give absolutely, unequivocally your all.

Because love makes us better than we are,
And what is love, if it is not the beautiful,
And soul singing feeling of fulfilment,
Pride and joy in the existence of another?

What is love if it is not all accepting,
All forgiving and all kind?
Love is a guiding light in life,
Something to aspire towards.

What is love then,
If not the warmth in my chest,
The smile as I fall asleep,
The eagerness with which I wake?
What is love, if not the excitement,
The anticipation you always leave me with?

I ask you then, what is love,
If it is not what I feel for you?