How Many Loves In A Lifetime?

There are those loved and lost to experience in the earliest days of youth,

Innocence seeking acceptance, failing, uncovering truth.

There are those for whom love is constant; family and friends, ongoing still,

Known forever, through thick and thin, warming the deepest of chills.

 

There are those met in passing on life’s journeying path who’ve taught a lesson profound

Moved on with their lives with a hug and a kiss; not forgotten but no longer around.

There are those of whom we’ve mistaken, not everyone so worldly wise,

Whose love the price is forsaken, love distorted, despised.

 

There are those in the world unknown, anonymous faces abound

But loved, nonetheless, in brotherhood. Love making the globe spin around.

There are those whose deepest convictions distrust the notion so pure

That love may be felt in many different ways. Love, only love, will endure.

 

There are those on whom love seems pointless, poured out, received, then wasted

Those for whom love is a bittersweet pill, not understanding how love should be tasted.

There are those whose trials in life dissuade any sense of true giving

Afraid to love and be loved in return, afraid it seems of real living.

 

There is eros, agape, philia, storge, so many loves to express,

A spiritual journey and physical; love experienced no less.

There are those for whom love’s a story, an expression of sweetest accord,

Enjoyed, vicariously, in leisurely pursuit without ever saying a word.

 

There are those for whom love is tarnished, all hope now a season of doubt,

Shivering sadly in hermit-like cave, not knowing what life’s all about.

Love, the varieties so wondrous, unendingly hurtful, of course

But full of all life’s potential when springing from life-giving source.

 

There are those for whom love’s confusing, testing the mettle of many,

A contradiction of love in its essence; love that springs always aplenty.

A fountain of love unending, giving, receiving in need,

There for all if willing to know, to absorb, the world to feed.

 

Love is the great contradiction with lessons for all us to learn,

No love ever given or received is lost; we all must love in our turn.

How many loves in a lifetime? Only one, the answer is true.

All love springs from source eternal. That’s all that love has to do.

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28 thoughts on “How Many Loves In A Lifetime?”

  2. Ah this is so hopeful, complete and true. Lovely poem, my friend. We all have love and can give love…so many possibilities…could not live without love in my heart…or in my life. xx

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  4. Wow…this resonates with me deeply…especially as someone who is afraid of love and did resign into a “hermit-like cave”. It took me a long time to believe in Love again. What we will come to realise is that love is pure, but people we may end up loving are not completely “pure”, nor are we 🙂

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    1. The source tarnished by ours and others’ perceptions but still flowing purely. I wish you well in love, Shirley. It matters too much to be without it in its many forms.x

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      1. Thank you for your kind wishes. I know what you mean – a life without love would be tragic indeed. I am braver now. Hence, the Art of Fearless Living. haha
        As much as it will hurt, I will embrace love 😉
        Hugs x

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  6. A lovely sentiment, and so timely, as I find myself reconnecting with an old friend and an old flame recently. Some relationships end – but the ones that change and grow with us, morphing into something wonderfully new, are blessings indeed. I believe that we love because He first loved us – I don’t do as well when relying solely on my own erratic supply of love. 🙂

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  7. Anne-Marie,
    Your words here are sweet and full of wisdom. So many kinds of romantic love, and then if you add in love of ones’ parents, kids, animals it gets dizzying. So many kinds of strength and consolation, we are lucky. Our unending ability to hope may be squashed, but it can be revived. You are so wise. Hugs, Brenda

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    1. Thank you, Brenda, for such lovely words. Love is the one thing I do believe shows us all the way no matter our faiths. Hanging on to it in all its many forms. 🙂 x

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  9. I am most sad for people I’ve lost through time, those I valued but are now far away, that even in the Facebook age, I feel like their hearts cannot be reached anymore, simply because they don’t care…C’est la vie…

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