Paradox Of Desire Poem by Olawale Oluwole

Does everyone who falls in love remain tethered?
Does everyone born escape the dark of death?
Does every lesson end, every race reach its line,
Every contest crown the victor?

Every heart hungers for success,
Yet lays down effort in quiet surrender.
Every heart seeks to be seen,
Yet lashes with its own claws.
Every heart dreams of gold,
Yet leaves only dust in its wake.

We crave comfort, yet suffering finds us.
We seek the head, yet refuse the tail.
We wish to rule, yet wisdom eludes.
We long for freedom, yet have no capital.
We yearn to love, yet recoil from imperfection.

Only the soul knows itself.
Can you grasp this human paradox?

Love —
A desire that resists definition,
A force that binds the willing and the flawed,
A fire that ignites contradictions,
A song sung in hearts that falter,
A presence felt,
Yet never fully held.