Poetry from Lan Xin

May Love Be the Base Color of Your Soul

Poem by Lanxin (Lanxin Samei)

We have all loved.

Some once knew love,

yet it faded away forever after.

For their hearts have grown numb and dull

in the absence of love.

Deprived of another’s affection,

they forget to love themselves,

and dare not love others anymore.

Like hedgehogs,

they curl up inside hard spiny shells.

Others have loved and been loved,

and also lost love.

Yet to carry love within the heart

is what sets them apart.

For those who bear love in their hearts,

love grows from within.

It does not depend on love given by others,

nor do they withhold love from the world.

They know how to love themselves,

and are willing to love others.

Loved or unloved,

having or losing,

nothing can alter their original loving heart.

The heart is a tree.

Nurtured by love,

it blooms and breathes lasting fragrance.

If love departs from the heart,

though the body still lives,

the soul has withered.

What is love?

Love is letting go.

Love is release.

Love is forgiveness.

Love is acceptance.

Love is tolerance.

Love is understanding.

Love is to help another to flourish.

May time pass, year after year,

and within your heart and mine,

love remains, endures always,

grows ever fuller.

May love be the base color

of our soul.

SYNCHRONIZED CHAOS