Love Is A Giant Stone Buddha Face...

...that I hope and fear may start talking to me.

It's Valentine's Day, and if there is a word to describe how I feel about it this year, I have yet to discover it.  I suppose the ancient Greeks may have had a word for it, presuming they had known about Valentine's Day as we know it.  That, I'm sure, is not possible.

Of the many emotions and states of mind available to human beings, love is truly universal and maybe the most mysterious.  How can so many of us experience it, and still not have a clear understanding of it?  I can speak with confidence as to its effects, but as to its ability to manifest in ones' life?  No, not really.

I only know its ecstasy when it has been present, and its agony when it has disappeared.

I was planning on an essay about the raw power of love, but the ideas never quite gelled. Then, I thought a poem about the incandescence of passion, its ability to empower, might be in order.  I even crafted what I thought would be a most powerful phrase I would use, but something held me back;  that poem isn't ready to yet be in the world.  

So I was at a loss.  A loss of how to 'splain what I want to 'splain, that is, until serendipity in the form of song painted me a picture.  I have the following on disc, and I guess I listened to it at just the right time.  The song is Farewell to Saint Dolores,  by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer*.  The title below is linked to the audio clip on their website:

FAREWELL TO SAINT DOLORES

"can you stay until tomorrow, there is no one here to save,
can you stay until tomorrow, there is no one here to save"
so spoke our lady of eternal sorrow
from the shelter of her cave

in a carriage of white linen, in her bed beneath the stairs
in a carriage of white linen, in her bed beneath the stairs
she took me to the jesse house of women
and sanctified me there

i remember yellow curtains, and her long hair hangin down
i remember yellow curtains, and her long hair hangin down
and the ageless face that witnessed me for certain
when my own could not be found

if you see my saint dolores, tell her love from brother john
if you see my saint dolores, tell her love from brother john
when the judas moon breaks o'er the virgin forest
i'll be down the road and gone

I posted the entire song lyric, because of its completeness as it related to the illumination of my thoughts.  I couldn't find a way to excerpt any one passage, and still have it make sense.

Assuming that it does make sense.  I'm not intentionally being opaque, but I have to approach this cautiously and and from the sides.  When I last heard the song, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I shivered slightly.  Everything that had been roiling around in my head, regarding love platonic and romantic, and my current situation vis-à-vis love, was crystallized by that song.  It made sense to me on so many levels.  I can only hope it makes sense to you, dear readers, as well.

Even if it doesn't...it is still one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.  Which is, perhaps, an apt definition of love.

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*Dave and Tracy (http://www.daveandtracy.com/) are in my top ten favorite singer/songwriter duos.  For a slightly different take on love, check out the lyrics to "Tanglewood Tree", also by them on the album of the same name (which includes the song I quoted above).  Between his amazing artistry with lyrics and her sweet voice, and their talent with instruments, they have created some of the most lyrical, beautiful works I believe I have ever heard.  Dave passed away rather suddenly back in 2002, but Tracy has carried on quite well in his memory and in her own right.  He certainly won't be forgotten...and I continue to dream I'll write something 'Dave-worthy' someday.