LET LOVE GROW

Love is a feeling, that comes from emotions, we all feel inside.
The combination of trust, respect, kindness, and even pride.
Affection we feel for others, must always start with ourselves.
Love doesn’t come from any gift, packaged by Santa’s elves.

Wherever there is love, strong relationships, also must exist.
These feelings of love, affection, and bliss, are hard to resist.
Love, is not something we can give, or that can be retrieved.
It must be grown and cultivated, so that it can be achieved.

Love must be felt and also exist, in both people, to feel it fully.
It’s not something that can be demanded by one, like a bully.
Self-love and self-respect, must occur before love can arrive.
If we are unable to love ourselves, love will never fully thrive.

Just as trust, respect, and kindness, are needed for growth.
The opposite emotions, will kill love, from the undergrowth.
Shame, blame, disrespect, and betrayal, are really the worst.
This withholding of affection, then make hate come in first.

Any shame or blame, create the pain inside, stealing any joy.
Disrespect and betrayal, will make trust, be what they destroy.
Love is felt when trust and joy, combine as complete equals.
If they continue to be present, they will make love sequels.

Don’t let the hate of the outside world, permeate your soul.
These can be overcome, if not letting them win, is the goal.
Acknowledged, healed, and also very seldomly even seen.
The damaged roots heal, then love is seen, inside the green.

Written by: Craig Dunkleberger
Inspired by: Brene Brown’s “Atlas of the Heart”