Love

Love

Fragile as a spider's web

Hanging in space

Between tall grasses,

It is torn again and again.

A passing dog

Or simply the wind can do it.

Several times a day

I gather myself together

And spin it again.

Spiders are patient weavers.

They never give up.

And who knows

What keeps them at it?

Hunger, no doubt,

And hope.

May Sarton

fr. Halfway To Silence

“Several times a day/I gather myself together/And spin it again.” The spiderweb as a metaphor for the fragility of love is a clear example of the practical usefulness of poetry. To have this metaphor show a web as both a work of beauty and a necessity; an expression of hunger and  hope, and how it requires daily, patient attention and repair, clearly shows me what love is  - not a falling into, like an inevitable accident, or a chemistry, like an inevitable combustion, or a fever, like an inavoidable illness, but a patient, moment by moment paying attention. An acceptance of damage, injury, and luck (bad and good). A commitment to starting over and over, to beginning anew  - every day.

Patience, that's love. Not giving up, that's love.

The web seems fragile, but as you no doubt remember, spider silk is stronger than steel.