'
In an Elysian land, full of literary wonders, there stood one elder tree of life, who found a way of staying unseen on every map man
made and to always be in bloom, flourishing, bearing hard-won fruits, priceless,gifted to a deserving few sad souls,who are sure to understand, it's value,for when that delicacy was consumed, it induced flights of the fantasy,the mind reeled and words emerged, poured from speech to writings; they were true to the soul of life, and choke full of emotions so sublime!

'There, I was a wandering poet, lost and living
confused, burdened with a purpose,
that had no direction nor design,
but something kept me going,
the belief that what I was searching
for, was already within my reach, if only I could see, but I was blinded by cycle of simple trivia each day brought with its birth,
But, on one fateful day, I was asked
a question, a curious query from a mind
very young and free, that it left me startled,
Because an answer to give, I didn't have one!
'
'
It was a question good and humble,
but one that warranted an answer not so simple,
It was a question about love, that delectable vine
which girdled that elder tree of life,
ranking just as tall, for they were one and the same- love borne of words and words birthing love,
that young girl who had hopes of being more
than what the world saw her to be, first asked me
what is the meaning of life; and I answered- to love,
For this I knew, we have materialized on this world,
in this space and time, across millenias, upon forces that we do not yet understand acting completely in convergence, to act and treat with love those woes and troubles of the heart we may yet not know nor comprehend!
'
'
But my answer failed to cure her curiosity,
So it curdled and she asked again, Then tell me-
make me understand, what is this love you speak of,
And I, the wise wordsmith, was left agasp, grasping for the right words that would establish the wonderous experience of encountering love,
I pondered hard and long and decided on letting
her skim past two works that I had spent years in making, one poem of no more than ten words span,
and a novel spanning across ten million words;
I'll give you ten days, I said, 'find me when you have read these'-she looked at me quizzically, but nodded!
'

'
On the tenth day, she came to find me,
I was lying in the shade of the elder tree, cool and refreshing,taking in the air, lush with the muse's breath, all content and calm, prime in my element; She said- I read them, but I do not understand
how this was to help me realise what love is,I said, that poem is the shortest work of art that I have ever been inspired to write and that story is the longest; but do you know what they share in common; they are both tales of love, infinite in their own right; different journeys to the same destination, differing in definition and dimensions, never full and finely furnished,
like those who love and are loved,
Love is never one and the same !
'
© the_acataleptic