When Love is not strong enough

Throughout the annals of time, everyone from poets to poor men, from scholars to fools have preached, ranted or raved about how strong love is. I agree with the sentiment that love is indeed powerful. In fact, love is perhaps the most potent elixir on the planet, a gift from the Creator. And who is it that can argue about the beauty of love, or dispute the joy of love when it is new. Ahh, when love is new!

Throughout the history of mankind, love has withstood the test of time like no other concept known to humans. it has conquered where the sword has failed. It has come through as an agent of change like nothing else before it. Love has been an one-of-an-kind experience, a magnificent miracle, a pleasure that is so exquisite that there are no words in the language of men that can adequately define just what it is or how it is able to do what only it can do.... make us feel so decidedly alive.

But given all that love is, oftentimes even it is not strong enough to withstand the strain that being in prison places upon it. Nothing else in the world burdens love like prison because what else is there in existence that possesses the audacity to transform a beautiful butterfly into a braying mule? Prison is a heartache that scars even love.

How can love exist where there is no air for it to breathe? How can love survive when there is nothing on which it can nurture itself? Do you have any idea what happens when memories fade or when there is no future? Death is what happens. The death of love. And while there may be a 1001 things that may wound love, nothing kills it as quickly as prison.

I know. I speak from experience. I stood mute, helpless as time worked its evil spell, coming in between me and the woman I loved. She was a bigger victim than I was. She believed she was strong enough, but little did she know. How could she when she had been led to believe that there was no mountain high enough, no valley low enough..... She had no idea. But I did. Still, I was not prepared to meet the end of love. Who is.? And what is there that can prepare you for such a terrible end?

Even now, though I still bleed from countless unseen wounds, I applaud the merits of love, I commend its warmth and I highly recommend it, but I do offer this caution; YOU CAN STRESS LOVE BUT DON'T TEST LOVE