what does it mean to love?

what does it mean
to love?
in this world
that is so trapped
in words
and meanings,
in forms
and trimmings,
in finding
a thousand ways
to live, not die?
what does it mean,
to love?
is it to come so close
to a person,
so I can feel his breath
as mine?
is it to write an epitaph
even before we've begun,
that says: "this is not love"
or "this is where love lived -
together and forever"?
is it to forego solitude,
yours and mine,
so we can never be alone
nor truly together?
is it to stand up to defy
the hand of death
that falls gently,
no matter where
we choose to look?

what does it mean to love?

to love is to be died upon,
where a parting of ways
paves a way inside me
to walk on, with you,
even when
you've gone your way;
to love is to be so broken,
that every cell inside me
screams 'no! don't leave',
yet to watch you go,
over and over again,
and to choose
to leave my heart
that way - broken,
not fixed;
to love is to be the earth
and the wind
and the fire
and the waters
dancing together
to celebrate life,
to love is to not
stand in your way
as you leave here,
but to sit beside you
for however long it takes,
and hold that unborn life
and untrodden path,
like a midwife would,
in uncertain hands,
giving and receiving,
merging and splitting,
grieving and rejoicing,
for a love
that we can
only feel,
but never fully know,
nor find.