seasoned love

they want to believe in sugar candy versions of love
so the poets and pundits and preachers of fluff
crank out pink gooey poison
and sell it to the hungry masses
    
but it always melts in the heat of life

strong and sinewy love
the color of blood, grows
deep in the maze of the heart
dark and dank and lost

sometimes oozing of greed
and lust and anger
then resting in a bitter marinade
of grief and regret

giving way to sweet tenderness
of forgiveness
and acceptance

    pb 2012