I Idea of Love

Have you noticed when some float upward,
because someone has captured their imagination,
there are those who are happy for them,
and those filled with indignation?

They can swoon and sway,
be afflicted or be smitten,
but they cannot possibly feel love.
That song remains unwritten.

Or so they are told.

Love in all it's weight,
no matter how long you wait
is always an idea.

It may start as a flutter
then a flicker,
then an all consuming flame.

Or it may begin the other way
Intense and surreal, 
with faults, and lies, and blame.

It might always be innocent.
Respectful, 
stoic and light.

Or it may vary on conditions
different from dawn to noon,
and well past midnight.

There's a formula for romance 
known by poets, charlatans, marketers and mothers 
who have doctored it for thousands of years.

There's a dance between too much and too little
information, time, distance, scent and skin,
trust and yearning, comforts and fears. 

They can concoct a potion,
or influence a notion
but they cannot judge what is love.

Love is an idea
powerful and fierce,
and gentle and light.

It's not a burden
to carry
nor subject for debate.

It's not thrust upon,
nor is it destiny, 
or fate.

It waxes and wanes like the moon
flows shallow and deep like the river
blows strong as a hurricane or soft as a balmy breeze.

Logic tells us it's chemicals
all released in our head,
while emotion calls on differing pleads.

It could be triggered by a smile, a laugh, 
a gaze held a few seconds 
longer than expected.

Do you time your gazes?
Plan your laughs, adjust your smiles,
least they be detected?

Love can be sped up,
slowed down,
deferred or ignored.

It can be questioned and tested, 
determined to not to be deep enough
not true. Forged!

Love is personal.
Like belief and faith,
Many want to advertise and praise.

Love is an idea
a powerful one
that can consume the days.

It's strong enough 
to be questioned, doubted
or denied.

And can only be proven 
to exist deep behind 
the loved and lover's mind's eye.