Why Am I Afraid of Love

By Azra Melrose

Love is always "The Question

"Everyone wants to know

What the other thinks about it

As if the answer would determine

If it's worth bearing their heart out

 On a Silver platter.

Playing with fire, hopelessly hoping

Fireworks would ignite.

But love could be anything

As the purity of the air we breathe

To the heart that beats ceaselessly

Through every heartbreak and unprepared grievance

Through boundless exuberance and the darkest hours of the night

It beats solely because it was

Supposed to.

Its only motive is to keep you alive

Until it cannot.

Now, that could be called love.

Or

Love could be in a staved mother's

Stomach, as she feeds her child

The last grain of rice

Or

Love could be a corpse

A grandfather who left his savings

For his kids

Who did not have a place

To call home

His grandchildren who never knew of a Grandfather

He was a stranger, who left his will for them in the name of a donation

In the name of love

That could be it.

Love, it could be so many things

But only if you're willing to look

To see, to feel

That love is nothing more than a

Selfless sacrifice

Love is that overwhelming feeling in your chest

That desperately wants to break free

From the resistance of the ribcage

Because it is boundless

And here I am.

Afraid of getting my heart broken

By another human

As if Love were not plenty, everywhere

As if it won't last me a lifetime, much less a heartbreak.

By Azra Melrose