Love In Reverse Poem by Raj Arumugam

if one can look at this thing we call love
without all the images we have about love
and all the poetry and song traditions
and all the accumulated wisdom about love
and all that we think is love;
if we can look at this when we use the word
in intense poetry and in swaying song
and in the authoritative pronouncements in our holy books
and in definitive images and paintings
if we can still look at this thing called love
with open eyes
as when one says: I love you -
Is it really that
or is it all just a fine way of saying? :
I love myself;
and I’ll share that with you
so long as you are obedient
so long as you bend your will to mine
so long as you can attend to my needs
so long as you are capable of feeding that love -
So that it’s all self-love, a love in reverse
and love itself - I love you - a shared mutual lie?
Can one consider all this and still say? :
There is true love
and there is only the love of the other
and no love of oneself in love.
Love is never reverse;
love is always pure, always pouring outward.