Love.
Four letters
A syllable
That can transform a shattered heart
Can soften a warped mind
Can twist and bend separate lives
And mesh them into one.
Lack of love can
Destroy nations and civilizations
Cause a body and soul to frost over
Until the entirety of its spirit
Is left lifeless and icy.
So why is love so often confused with
Insults that are thrown like bad pitches?
Psychological abuse that infiltrates a vulnerable mind
And causes its owner to falter?
Phrases that are tossed around the dinner table like
"You're so annoying"
"You're fat"
"What is wrong with you?"
How can that be love?
How can we teach children that they have to respect their parents
Because they love them?
How can our daughters discern love from abuse in romantic relationships
When they hear this daily from their fathers?
How can our sons know how to treat a woman with dignity
When their dads act this way towards their moms?
And we wonder why the statistics
For violence among relationships
Are the way they are.
We wonder why girls are promiscuous
Well why the hell not?
We wonder why boys do not respect their female counterparts
Well why the hell would they?
Why can't parents just respect and accept their kids
As they supposedly agree to do
From the day they are born?
Maybe then we can teach the latter generation
That love and respect
Go hand in hand.