Love

Philip Arthur Larkin

1922 to 1985

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The difficult part of love 
Is being selfish enough,
Is having the blind persistence 
To upset an existence 
Just for your own sake.
What cheek it must take

And then the unselfish side - 
How can you be satisfied, 
Putting someone else first 
So that you come off worst?
My life is for me.
As well ignore gravity.

Still, vicious or virtuous,
Love suits most of us.
Only the bleeder found 
Selfish this wrong way round 
Is ever wholly rebuffed,
And he can get stuffed.