Lovers Desire Liberty Poem by Raymond Anyanwu

Why did you tell me
That the flames of old are simple to keep ablaze?
Yet connoisseurs could employ
A little celestial assistance every now and then.
It seems easy to go out and be as brilliant
As Newton, Soyinka or Emegwali.
But much harder, much harder it is
To be the light gamboling in someone else's lives.
Why didn’t you tell me
That radiance such as affection
Entails more reliance than energy?
For the most precarious of all dives
Is the dive into the wits of your lover.
What is more reasonable than enduring love
All through the long chilly torment of fury?
Yet lovers desire liberty
Merely vaguely less than they dread it.
In the last part, love burns fear, not desire.
Is any of us capable of keeping the fire aflame?
Especially for the understanding
That it is the sweetest, preeminent,
And most gorgeous thing in our lives.