Harder Than Steel
Lonely hearts romanticize the idea of love.
Only those who have seen all the facets of it,
Virulent, passionate, consuming – like a flame –
Escape the notions that love is somehow weak or soft.
Anyone who has experienced it, even for a moment,
Surrenders to the reality that it can save you,
Though are wary of how it can destroy you too.
Heat, fire, warmth – there is a life-giving force to these,
Our survival depends on them.
Unchecked, uncontrolled, unabated, though,
We are left with nothing but ash and ruin.
It is the same with love, and yet we remain, unafraid and undeterred
Loving again, and again, and again
Til we learn to control the spark.
Colette Marie Murphy 