What Love Is Poem by Natasa To

Love is not only the spark—

not just the quickened pulse

or the trembling yes

beneath a summer sky.



It is the lantern left burning

in the window of your chest.

It is the chair pulled closer

when the night grows long.



Love is the courage

to be known—

to unbutton the guarded parts,

to say, Here, this is where I am fragile,

and not turn away.



It is laughter spilling over

like light across a kitchen floor.

It is silence, too—

easy and unafraid,

where nothing needs to perform.



Love is learning

the rhythm of another heart

and softening your steps

to walk beside it.



It is choosing—

on ordinary mornings,

in unremarkable hours—

to stay tender

in a world that forgets how.



And when it is real,

love does not cage or conquer.

It opens.

It steadies.

It makes room.



Like the sky does for birds,

like the ocean does for rivers,

love says—

Come as you are.