Love
Is a ripe plum
Growing on a purple tree.
Taste it once
And the spell of its enchantment
Will never let you be.
Love
Is a bright star
Glowing in far Southern skies.
Look too hard
And its burning flame
Will always hurt your eyes.
Love
Is a high mountain
Stark in a windy sky.
If you
Would never lose your breath
Do not climb too high.
-Langston Hughes
Since I was at Busboys and Poets for brunch, and I believe this restaurant is something of a tribute to Langston Hughes, I decided to look at one of his poems, and I like this one, especially for this blog. I like the first verse, because it's true. Once you get a taste of real love, it will be impossible to live without it. You won't ever want poor substitutes like lust or infatuation ever again. The second verse was a bit interesting to me, as I'm still trying to figure out what it means, but I can say that love is a beautiful and glorious thing to behold. Maybe the thought is that if you stare at it too long (trying to think it through or analyze it too much), then it will do more harm than good. And the third voice definitely brings some truth. The higher you go in love, the greater the chance you have of losing your breath. Now this could be in pure amazement and admiration of the beauty of love. Or as I sometimes think about it, love has a way of removing mindsets and behaviors that we thought we needed to live (breath) and replace it with healthier alternatives and thoughts.
Thanks to Langston Hughes for his contributions to American life and culture.
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