When they say that all you need is love
Most people’s heads fill with starry-eyed visions
Of pretty young folk romancing one another
Or maybe a bit of bromance between virile young men
Or innocent sisters skipping hand in hand through fields of flowers
Such ideas are little more than cotton candy in a world that is starving
Until you can find it in your heart to have compassion
For those you have deemed ugly and unworthy
The disabled, the elderly, and those who aren’t pretty in a certain delicate way
The mentally ill, the homeless, the deformed
Victims who hide away too traumatized to face the world
Until services are provided for each and every one
We do not have the right to say that we know how to love
In any case, the word love has too many connotations
Of gaiety and frippery
Of lads and lasses tripping the light fantastic into one another’s arms
Then riding off into the sunset to live happily ever after
What the world needs far more than sweet young romance
Is compassion in its muted shades of black and white and gray
Compassion doesn’t care if someone is pretty
It doesn’t care if they are young or old
If they are full of vitality or on their deathbed
If they are black or white or brown or red
If they are fat or thin or in between
Whether they are a real go-getter or a real nowhere nobody
If they are able-bodied or disabled in whatever manner
Compassion seeks to serve them all
A world that lacks compassion cannot claim to be a loving world
A society that lacks compassion cannot claim to be successful
A soul lacking in compassion has no love to give
Until there is fairness and justness in the treatment of all people
This is a world without love
So it is my position that rather than seeking romance
Instead of longing to drown in an ocean of desire
What we really need to create a better life
Is to feed the hungry
To house the homeless
To comfort the suffering
To respect the soul within
Rather than objectify or criticize the body without
What we need is empathy to create a better society
Then maybe we can talk about love
That flighty fairy with fragile gossamer wings
~ornery owl~
390 words
Blurbish Thing:
It's a poem addressing the fact that when people hear the word "love" they usually think of romantic love. I feel that women, in particular, are conditioned to focus on romantic love above their own goals and happiness. As well, I don't feel that romantic love will have much impact on the mess the world is in. What we need is empathy.
If this blurb is too long and convoluted, feel free to just use the first sentence.
I really have no desire for a full-blown poetry critique. You like it or you don't. If you like it, my name is Ornery Owl and you should tell the world about the great poetry you read on my blog. If you don't like it, my name is Vinny Viper and I suggest that you don't talk to anyone about that putz Ornery Owl.
The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)
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