It's Not Love Poem by Afia Gyimah

It's not love
But it's something else
One word to describe
Love
It just feels so plain
One word to denote all that stirs inside our veins
It's not love
But it's something greater
Description nonexistent
We cannot reach
But every time I look at you
It's all that I can speak
'I love you'
But no it's not that
I struggle to find the words
The words that can cleanse this urge
To express how much I truly feel
Three words aren't enough
It's not mere love
This feeling's core
Love's simplicity belies the truth
For in your eyes
A whole world unfolds
It's in the twinkle of your gaze
When laughter dances through your face
And when your laughter takes it's flight
I notice
A delicate flare of nostrils, so light
So precious
How is it love
I feel so much
It hurts inside my core
But my heart can't bring me to say much more
'I love you'
But the desire isn't fulfilled
I say it so many times
Over and over
Again and again
The words slip from my lips
One by one
It's the graze of your fingertips
The warmth of your palms
The grasp of your hand
It's a feeling so divine
It's the feeling when you smile
It's the feeling when you cry
It's just like being high
It's the bond between you and I
But it's not love
This fervent fire
That fuels our souls
Our hearts desire
It's something so much more
Profound and rare
A connection in which is beyond compare
It's the feeling when you're breaking
When you collapse to your knees
It's the feeling when you scream
It's a feeling so extreme
How can I look at you when you cry
And still, observe so much more beyond one's eye
It's the feeling
When I know that you try
When you cry so hard that you can't breathe
The feeling sheaths
I still see you
I still observe
It's the sound of your voice
I don't feel disgusted
I don't feel detest
It's admiring despite every flaw
It's me appreciating every wound that I saw
Because I love you
But it's really something more
I want to tell you words that you deserve
But as I look into your eyes
I just want to cry
Not because I'm sad
And not because it hurts
But because the feeling is so strong
It's overwhelming
It's the feeling of my heart swelling
The aching in my chest
The urge to describe what I feel
But it's like my mouth's been sealed
How can this feeling make me want to fall
Make me want to cry
But make me want to laugh
To scream
To hold you so tight
Make me want to make all your problems right
Yet all that I can speak
'I love you'
I may often say
But these words cannot fully convey
The depths of all I long to express
When you cry
I still see strength
In the midst of every trial, at any length
When you talk about what you enjoy
When you speak with passion
With anger
With fear
I still feel
A deep attraction
A warmth inside
It's all the times my heart has cried
Just looking at you
Just from feeling
It's not love
But it's something more
And I will forever feel guilt
That I can't let you know
I just really wish I could show
Because you deserve the most
But for now I will always look at you
And I will continue to feel so strongly
And at a loss for words
All I can speak
'I love you'