Too Much Love

why does it hurt to love?
why can I gaze into my sons face
and feel in my gut his angst, his worry
his sadness and disappointments

does love mean to carry the pain of another?
does it mean that the disease in their spirit
is transfered to your own?

is love something we can choose to do
or not do?

is love a matter of degrees?
in spanish it is, in english
loving pizza and loving people
are the same thing

once your destiny has been tied to a person
can it be untied?

once you have loved
will you ever unlove that person?
or will their pain always be yours?

maybe that is the point of monogamy
to not take on more than we can handle.

we who know sacrifice
who know pain
have born it
and still take on more

we whose hearts are open
we who take compassion too far
we who give too much
we who are compelled to
put band aids on all the wounds
of the world

we are at risk
of being flattened
under the weight
of so much love.