Love's Thieves

Thieves! Thieves!
The love thieves are entering!
They plunder us, snatching it from us
Along with hearts, with veins, with arteries
Leaving us utterly disarticulated
Like old wooden puppets
With beautiful painted eyes
On gravestones

I put padlocks, bolts, bars on the doors
But the thieves, the thieves got past
Or through
Or they were already inside
Until one good day
When, weary of so much toil,
I said: enough, take everything!
I unlocked all the doors
I smashed all the bolts
And love flowed, flowed
No matter how much they stole from it
The liquid, translucent gold,
Undulated
And it would no longer
End.

Anca Stanciu