Photo by Doug1021 | CC BY 2.0 License Real love hurts
Bruises
Beneath heavy blows
Wind-knocked
Lungs wheeze, gasp, burn for air
Choking on hot tears
Real love hurts
Breaks
Splits open, gaping wide
Red-raw
Flesh torn from bone
Exposing fiery nerves
Real love hurts
Bleeds
Stumbles to the earth
Battle-weary
Sweat-soaked hair dripping
Stinging open wounds
Real love hurts
Claws
Crawls along broken roads
Dirt-caked
Blood under fingernails
Dragging lifeless limbs
Real love hurts
Pays
Ransoms ruined hearts
Life-emptying
Demands drain reservoirs
Turning skin cold, blue
Real love hurts
Stays
Through bitter, brutal ends
Bare-backed
In the dust, forsaken
Whispering final mercies to the sky
© Nichole Liza Q.
This poem was written in response to the WordPress Weekly Writing Challenge: Time for Poetry.
Lightning Bug 
Wow! I didn’t know you could write poetry Nichole! This is so heart-wrenching…you captured the horror of the crucifixion so well…amazing love indeed!
Thanks Andre!
Thank God he loved us enough to bear the unbearable at Calvary.
Yes, so true, Pat!
You captured what Real Love is. It blows my mind how much He loves us. Beautifully written.
Thank you, Deb ❤
Nichole,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts so eloquently.
Natalie
Thanks for taking the time to read it, Natalie.
Reblogged this on Lightning Bug and commented:
A Passion Week reflection I wrote last year as I was meditating on the events of Good Friday. Real Love is the roses and the thorns…Real Love hurts.