Tonight's Poet Corner: If This Is Love

If This Is Love
by Belinda Roddie

If this is love, give me a bottle
so that I may cork it and keep it
safe in a dusty cabinet, where no
one can take it from me. Let me
steal a sip from the glassy lip
each month when the air is dry.

There will be traces of passion
in it, as rich as blackberry jam
and yet as subtle as a peach aroma
in a summer orchard. The smell of
oak will bring me back to swing sets
by old churches, where I find a kiss
to be sweeter than lemonade
while the sun is extra hot.

I will find someone to drink this
love with me, so long as they have
the stomach for it. Then,
when the bottle is empty, we
will fetch another dose from
the aging barrel, where it grows
fuller with each passing year.