Gibran Khalil Gibran
People We Love
Written by: Gibran Khalil Gibran
Translated from Arabic by: Daniel Janoyan
Glendale, CA, April 18, 2009

There are people we love
But we dare get close to them.
They are sweeter from a distance,
And from a distance much more classy,
And from a distance much more pricey.

There are people we love
And also attempt to get close to
Sharing life’s experiences with them.
We get hurt if we dare stay far from them
Imagining life to be difficult without them.

There are people we love
Hoping to have a beautiful experience with them
We look for a chance to meet with them
Making up excuses to see them
And living with them becomes our imagination
Rather than reality.

There are people we love
And yet we keep it to ourselves
Not revealing our love to them
Fearing the many consequences
Fully aware that these consequences are terrible
And therefore we’d rather keep communications
Closed to one another.

There are people we love
Filling up the universe with their love,
Telling the whole world about this love;
Talking about them whenever we can
Hoping just like air and water
They’ll always be around
And also suffocate in their absence
Or if we happen to be away from them.

There are people we love
For our inability to find any other to love
And our need for love attracts them to us
Thus the days pass by, 
And so our age advances depriving us from any other friend.

There are people we love
As they don’t deserve other than love
And we possess nothing for them other than to love
Learning from them things that are beautiful
Recalling with them many things past
Looking back at life from its very start
Attempting to be truth worthy
To give them sound happiness.

There are people we love
And yet we find no echo of this love within their heart
Thus getting destroyed and heart broken
Indulging ourselves in failing tales.
We never do hate them
Nor do we forget them
We love none other besides them
Making them cry following every failed attempt.

And there are people we love……..

And the only thing left
Is for them to love us
Just like we love them.
 
Armenian Poetry