love hurts

they say, but this

can’t be the half of it

love is beyond hurt, love

is a knife with no handle, love

is broken glass on a concrete floor, love

is the muffled voice from another room

determining your fate, love

is the point of impact, love

is the raptor’s shadow and the sound

of an owl’s wings in the dark, love

is a hot stove and the last drop of blood,

an open wound and the purple pink

of a new scar, love

is the soft body of a small

crushable thing, love

is a flash flood and love

is a trail with no water, love

is a two-track in the desert

a rain shadow on the ridge

and lightning in the trees, love

is the certainty that this road

must always end in death, and love

is the truth that this

is our only road to redemption

© J.A. Fink  2013