It's A Love-Hate Thing Poem by Leria Hawkins

Love…such a fickle, fickle flame
…a fine line...between here and never again

I love you for many, many reasons
For fire and for sex
And for the blue that intrigues me
…and I hate you just the same
Because I am weak and yearn for you
Because I am tired of the seasons between hot and cold
I love you for the musings that prick my brain
For the slight tick, the unconscious clearing of your throat
And for the intensity of your unabashed self-love
…and I hate you, with a blind and bitter rage
Because I fail to enflame you
Because I’ve sought your shore
Only to drown instead in a pool of my own making
I love you for taste and smell and texture
For the cool thin lines of your persuasion
I love your resolve, your intelligence, your brazen wickedness
…and I hate you just the same
Because I am inebriated by your poison
Addicted to the taste and the smell of it
I love you in all your varying shades of gray
And in the red, red, red of my dreams
There are so many hues…orange, gold, amber
I love them all…
But, let me be perfectly clear…I hate you