Don't Do This

Have you ever done this thing? It's terribly dangerous and many people seem to be doing it. It's called falling in love and I'm here to report that often as not, it can be extremely painful and end very badly. Strangely, one enters into it with shocking recklessness ... we buy fruit with more care and consideration ... and after centuries of diligent smelling and careful tasting, have no question about which fruits are able to poison us and take us out in a matter of moments. But with this enterprise called love we bring little wisdom to the table.

We trust our senses -- sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste -- for no good reason. We see curves we want. We touch hair sometimes surreptiously, if we get the thrilling chance. We ask for a dance and know we want not to see the artful steps of a partner, but rather languish in the close perfume of him or her. Just to hear that divine word on our lover's lips -- one's name -- we crave. And at last, to kiss and know this ripe fruit in all it's fullness -- few can resist. By then, we are lost, only to learn how lost much later. And is it better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all? Depends on the day, depends on the day.