passion

i wonder. how does love evolve? i know about the burning embers signifying its beginning, when my fingers are siezed with an addiction to touch the skin of my new lover. it's right around the time when my mind is drunk from thoughts of him after imbibing his image with the thirst of an alcoholic in her first week of rehabilitation. it's when my blood boils to the point of leaving third degree burns on all of my internal organs. it's when each and every one of my senses are held hostage by the soothing invasion of his voice into my bones, while the look in his eyes encroach upon every last secret i've ever held in my life, including the ones i forgot i even had.

i know there can be passion without love. it's not like i've loved every last brotha i've slept with, unless by "love" you mean "my skin loved the feel of him under me, over me, and inside of me." if that's the case, then i still can't say i've loved every brotha i've slept with, cuz some of those instances were just plain bad.

what i want to know, though...can there be love without passion? i don't mean the kind of love one has for a relative. i'm talking about that love one has for the one he or she has chosen to spend the rest of his or her life with. is that how it's supposed to be once folks have been together for years? is passion so incendiary that it can't help but die out eventually? is that the natural progression of relationships? can a person be in love with someone and not feel passionate about that person? i don't see how that's possible.