Define Love

I wanted to know about love -
What does it mean to others?
How do they perceive it, define it?
I wanted to know what is love...

I asked a parent to tell me about love
I was told it is sacrifice -
Giving up your own dreams and desires
To turn your loved ones' dreams into reality.

When asked, a married couple replied
That love for them is compromise
And constant adjustment to accomodate
The other's wishes and desires.

Siblings define love as understanding
Each other, despite the differences,
Jealousies & other harsh realities of life
And being there for each other

Lovers say love is overlooking each other's faults
And focusing on the good
In the other's soul, thus accentuating
Their own goodness.

For me love is all this and more
For it is the very basis of my being...
My biggest weakness, my only strength
It is binding, it is liberating.

Love is hope and belief in a better tomorrow
It is perfection, my solace, only redemption
The wings that lift me to the highest pinnacle
The roots that ground me to reality

Love they say can never be defined
For it can only be felt and not just in your heart
Love is worship, a connection of souls...
Never an end, always a start