No Love

I sought “Love” in poetry encased 
in volumes long collecting dust
and realized, as I must, it would be unjust
to quote their thoughts
as though they were my own.

No love but my own will I ever know, 
if I ever do, but I know

your own vision lengthened when you met:
past, into one another’s experience;
future, into new destinations;
inward, into empathy beyond words;
outward, to worlds beyond a lonely reach.

Love that keeps you close will take you far.
No love leaves a heart that lives in “We Are.”

(for Rachel and Derek, May 9, 2024)