Fear of Love

No one is more aware and afraid of love than I.
No one understands the damage
love gone bad can do, breaking
the best of you like a twig, leaving you
crippled and paralyzed,

the best of you lost,
unsure and afraid, oh
so very afraid.

No one hesitates more than I
to say those three words that once came so easily
off the lips, that once seemed so simple and sure,
and now, feels more like each word paints a target
in the center of your chest,
exposed, vulnerable and so very, 
oh so very
afraid.

That is the truth.

It matters little to me if you believe it.
It is still the truth.

There is nothing I am more afraid of
than love,
except perhaps, living
without it.

About this poem

If you have loved, and lost, had your heart broken, suffered divorce, death, any of these, then, you know.

Tom