Balance

” Love,” they said,

“Is giving.”

They told me that,

And I gave and gave.

Poured out self,

Erased ego, or expected to,

Became intoxicated

With giving,

Oblivious to others–

Needing, or so I thought,

Nothing.

But I was self-bluffing,

In my eagerness to give,

Until one said,

“Let others give too,

For if living be giving,

Will you deny them?

Loving is caring

By sharing.”

Do you understand?

I understood,

Beneath the Hurt,

Learning

That love

Sways back and forth,

Resilient,

In unspoken reciprocal

Trust;

This is the must

Of love.”

Sallie Chesham