Love Poem: Do You Love Me
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Written by: Bill Drayton

Do You Love Me

DO YOU LOVE ME?

Do you love me like a brother
In a continuous dance
Through the gliding rays 
Of a sun's light?

Who are you to presume my need?

Are you willing to shoulder 
The weight of unconscionable pain,
Making it wholly yours?

Do you know how your people
Load a dark mass of shame
On the backs of those who 
Despair with rage?

We yearn to be loved for our true selves,
Not discarded into a wasteland 
For reviled outcasts.

Will you lead us home 
To an oasis of perpetual comfort
Where we are safe from 
The piercing arrow of death?

Will you love us completely
Without counting the cost
Or denying our humanity?

Do we belong in your place 
As a permanent family,
Or are we to be hostile strangers,
Incomprehensible
To one another,
Doubting there's even a thin line
Of relationship between us?

I cannot tell, until you speak
To reassure, saying more than 
What I know, to dissolve suspicion 
That clouds the uncertain heart,
Opening it to new possibilities.

Will you come and knock 
On my locked door as honoured guest,
Seeking entrance from me?

What will be your words
That can change my reluctant mind
From its well-worn stance
To disengage because of past grief?

Do you really love me?