To love is to hurt

To love is to hurt
And hurt after love is to feel
    pain in the depths of 
                      your being
                      
But to live without feeling
    is merely to exist,
        drabbly,
        coldly.
        
So, let me live,
    and love,
    and hurt,
    and love again--
    
For love after hurt is
    to feel the warmth
    of April sunshine
    after an endless storm.
    
--10/24/73