What is Love ?

After Valentine Day, in what seems a very unromantic era, with a new millennium looming ahead, Jungle Echoes thought it fitting to stop and ask the eternal question : What is Love ? And our readers and staff answered.

Hence, here are some of the pieces we received and wrote. We thank all of those who were willing to bare their hearts and souls, thus sharing what is still the most ill-understood, yet also the most talked about, emotion of all.

 

The undying term.

LOVE.

A constant in existence yet inexplicable in reality.

You can make love, love someone, love something,

love yourself, do a deed with love, be loved, and

know love.

 

But can you descibe it ??

Don't we try ??

Shall I ??

& Why ??

 

WHY DO I ENDLESSLY ALLOW MYSELF TO BE SUBMERGED

INTO THE REALM OF THOUGHT OFTEN OBSERVED.

 

OH, I'VE TRIED ALL MY LIFE, EVER SINCE DAY ONE,

TO UNDERSTAND THOSE FOUR LETTERS--DEFINED BY SOME--

 

TO BE WHAT THEY PERCEIVE, THINK, FEEL, OR BELIEVE.

AND AS THOSE BEFORE ME----I FAIL TO ACHIEVE----

 

UNIVERSAL UNDERSTANDING WITHIN MY DESCRIPTIONS

I ALWAYS FALL PREY TO MY PREJUDICIAL INHIBITIONS

 

What is LOVE anyway ??

What is it today ??

What do U say ??

Or portray ??

 

I PORTRAY LOVE AS AN ENCOMPASSING, ENDEARING EMOTION

THAT DESCENDS UPON 1 THROUGH DEDICATION AND DEVOTION

 

IT'S SENDING THOUGHTS OF KINDESS,CARE,CONSIDERATION,

& SEEN AS CONCILIATORY IN IT'S MOST BASIC VIBRATION.

 

IT'S WILLING COMMITTMENT TO THE HIGHEST OF IDEALS.

IT'S THE KNOWLEDGE AND APPRECIATION OF HOW 1 MAY FEEL

 

IT'S UNSELFISHNESS, UNCONDITIONALITY, UNIMAGINABLE,

IT'S UNORTHODOX, UNRESTICTED, AND UNFATHOMABLE.

 

Isn't it like a star ??

Forever at a far,

yet here, like

bars ??

 

BARS ARE THE OBSTALCES THAT RESTRAIN AND RESTRICT

AND ISN'T THAT THE FEELING WHEN WE ARE IN CONFLICT ??

 

ARE WE TRAPPED BEHIND----THE LINE WHICH DIVIDES

OR JUST NOT REALIZING OUR FORTUNE ON THIS SIDE ??

 

WHEN YOU LOOK OUTSIDE YOUR SELF, AND THOSE U CHOSE,

AND OUTSIDE YOUR OWN CIRCLE--I SUPPOSE YOU'RE FROZE.

 

THE BEING THAT YOU BE INSIDE THIS SWEET HUMANITY

AND THE CHOICES THAT YOU MAKE MUST SET YOU FREE !!

 

Shouldn't it be a freedom untold ??

A break from the mold ??

A wonder to--

Behold ??

 

HOLDING MEMORIES THAT INVOKE CHANGE AND BRING HOPE

LIKE A PRETTY-EYED BUTTERFLY INSIDE A KALEIDOSCOPE

 

A DAZZLING SMILE, THAT SPARKLES, SHIMMERS AND SHINES

& LEAVES SILENT SYMPHONIES 2 SOFTLY SERENADE A MIND

 

A VOICE SO SWEET, SIMPLY SHOWING YOU A SIGN----

OF THE TRUE MEANING OF HUMANITY & THAT'S BEING KIND

 

OR A VISION OF BEAUTY THAT DELIGHTS THROUGHOUT A DAY

OR A WORD OF WISDOM THAT PERPETUATES WITHOUT DECAY

 

IT CAN EVEN BE A NAME U SAY-----LIKE MAYBE MARA MAE

THAT RINGS WITH AN INNOCENCE THAT JUST WON'T GO AWAY

 

IT CAN BE MANY THINGS THAT POSITIVELY IMPRESS.

IN A WORD, LOVE IS THAT WHICH MAKES YOU YOUR BEST !!

 

The question still is why ??

And the answer is

LOVE is the undying term.

 

by Erick Michael

 

---

 

Love...

Ah, Love !

Or, rather LOVE !!!

For that is how love should be, isn't it ?

It should be powerful, vibrant, a loud exclamation mark of emotions and feelings.

 

Yet, how gaunt and brief the word is.

Love...

Luv...

So diminutive.

So stark.

So simple.

Too simple perhaps for the complications-as-the-meaning-of-life trend human hearts seem to cling to.

I've heard the "we never argue, there's something wrong" theory. I've read of torment and heartache to validate love.

I've witnessed scenes and rows that were more like war than love

 

I want my love in an explosion of laughter.

I want it to giggle helplessly, childlike, silly, a total abandon of restraint and decorum.

I want my love greedy.

Not gourmet, not picky, not frowning at a lack of "nouvelle cuisine" presentation.

I want my love to let mango juice drip on the chin, sweet and sticky.

I want my love like a spring morning, filled with heady scents, loud with the chirping and gay twittering of talkative birds.

I want my love satin smooth, silky soft, sweetly caressing.

I want my love not to fear ridicule,

not to care about sour-pussed-drab-minded-wicked-mouthed souls,

not to shy away from giving into temptation.

 

Love...

Gentle, kind, tender love.

Love like a beautiful ballad, swelling into magnificent harmonies, sliding on the nuance of blue notes, giving silence and rest the resonance of sound.

Love-comfort and love-haven, keeping the predators at bay by the sheer magnificence of its strength,

intimidating because of its integrity.

Love in a peaceful infinite journey that grows more exciting with each step.

 

And yes,

Let love be a challenge too !

Let it take me in its arms, toss me up, spin me round, for I know it will always catch me.

Let it chew me up, swallow me, ingest me and spit me out, I will only be more tasty still.

Let it grab my hand and run as I follow blindly.

Let it push me farther and further, daring me to be bold.

Let love teach me how to conquer fear.

Let it teach me how to trust unconditionally.

Let it teach me how to be humble and eager to learn.

I will be the best student that ever was.

 

Love.

A lifetime adventure.

To live for love.

To die of love.

To breathe and think only of love.

To smile and sigh and cry for love.

Love...

Ah, LOVE !!!

 

By A.R.

---

 

CHECK ONE 

Remember the time
finding that special someone 
was as simple as a note
I like you 
do you like me 
yes
no 
check one
Then you pulled her braids 
and she chased you all over the playground

You didn't have to go through all the games people play 
and the tension on your feelings
You didn't have to worry about 
what someone has
what someone does 
what someone wears
or where someone lives
It was very simple
I like you  do you like me 
yes  no  check one

It should be simple to get together
It should be simple not contradictory
you say you want a lover 
who is your best friend
you say you want 
someone who is sensitive
someone who cares about you 
and everything about you
You say you want someone who 
you can talk to about anything and everything
someone who has your best interest at heart
someone who wants 
to share everything with you
someone who understands you
someone who 
you can take walks in the park with or just kick it with
someone who loves you unconditionally
you say you want all these things in a man
and when you find that man 
you put him in the dreaded 'friend zone'
then you call that man 
you don't even have a home phone number for
"yeah baby put #14 in my pager 
so I'll know it's you"
Then you complain 
that there are no good men out there
You look everywhere
but right in front of you
to your friend who possesses 
all the qualities you say you want 
It should be as simple as
I like you 
do you like me 
yes
no 
check one

Remember the time when love was so simple
You know I prayed to GOD
to send me someone special
someone who is intelligent 
who also has some common sense
someone who believes in GOD
and who tries to live according to the word
I asked him to make her fun loving 
Active, simple, hardworking and talented
I also added it would be helpful 
if she liked to cook sometimes
I even asked him 
to make her not think I was too corny 
for admitting that I prayed for her
Then we talked 
and I said maybe he sent me you
Remember when love was simple 
I like you do you like me yes no check one

We don't have to waste a lot of time 
with overly expensive dinners 
when I'd rather cook for you
We don't have to worry about me 
forcing myself into a suit and tie 
When I prefer blue jeans 
tennis shoes and a tee shirt
And why should I buy an expensive car 
when I need a truck. A real truck.
To impress you
I don't want to impress you with things
I want to impress you with me
I don't want to impress you with my money
I want to impress you with the fact that I get up and go to work every
day
I don't want to impress you with the fact that
I have several degrees 
I want to impress you with how well I listen
I don't want you to be impressed 
with where I've been
I want you to be impressed 
with where we can go together
In fact, I don't want to impress you at all
I just want to tell you something simple
I like you 
do you like me  
yes
no 
check one 

CHECK ONE, David Brian Williams; 
Copyright (c) 1998, by David Brian Williams
All rights reserved.  

To send comments or to order copies of the 23" x 28" poster with
original
artwork by Ramona Fuller Ward contact: realpoet1@yahoo.com or
desq@netscape.net.