What We Call Love by Shanice Davis

Love: deep affection and warm feeling for another--this is love

A bloody sword
Resting on the battlefield
Obscured by rain

This is what we call love:
Yet it still thirsts
For the dead bodies on the ground
Forever untamed

This is what we call love:
A little boy standing on the porch
With his Marlboro in his mouth
And his daddy's shotgun in his hand
Waiting for an intruder

This is what we call love;
An arm crossing a chest
Like a hand going to the heart
This heart fighting for freedom

This is what we call love:
A black bird
Racing against the strong wind

{Poem by Shanice Davis}