what love is

I know what love is
it isn't a sunny day
it isn't a beautiful girl
it isn't you leaving
love isn't rejection
of what we care about
and I would know
for I know what love is
it isn't late night conversations
staying up till dawn
the hours spent together
talking of things which matter
and those which don't
of what we'll never know
with anyone else
it isn't the time
close friends spend apart
the poems that I write
to someone besides you
nor is it the thoughts
of what might have been
if you were not in them
it isn't the children
that we'll never have
nor the time together
which we will not spend
it isn't the missed opportunities
of moment spent with you
love isn't memories
we have of separation
it isn't the lovers we have
with whom we are not in love
it isn't even the arguments
the moral disagreement
the anger and jealousy
which we do not have
nor even the hatred
which you feel when
you think about me
all of these things
I know are not love
because I know what love is
the early morning light
that isn't in your eyes
the musky clean smell
that isn't in your hair
the soft touch
that isn't from your hands
the gentle melody
that comes off another's tongue
all of these things
are not what love is
I know what love is
and it not here without you