Trials and Tribulations of Love and Loss

“Love Medicine”, “This is Just to Say”, and “l(a” are simple yet very complex narratives on love. As humans we are aware of our own imperfections and the imperfections of the things around us. In the same way, worldly love cannot be perfect. Love is powerful, but it is also subject to the shortcomings of people. Few relationships are without stress. However, it is in this imperfection that love shines strongest. The three works show that the true essence of love, devotion, and painful loss shine through the trials and tribulations of loving relationships.
e.e. cummings’ “l(a” shows a glimpse of a leaf falling, alone, from a tree. It tracks the slow fall to the ground in its form. It speaks of the loneliness of the leaf that has just fallen. It has, presumably, fallen away from the other leaves that fill the branches of the tree. Thus, it is a poem of loss in which a leaf has been forced away from its counterparts, against its will, and now must move on without love and support into the great unknown. This poem reminds the reader that he may be in the midst of a loving and supporting group, but that he could lose it. It reminds readers to take advantage of what they have now, because they are liable to fall, as “one” (cummings), away from their comfort zone.
“This is Just to Say”, by William Carlos Williams, portrays a seemingly minor situation in which a man has eaten plums that his lover was saving for breakfast. The man knowingly did something that he knew was wrong which shows the imperfections and selfishness of people in general. In the end, however, he asks his lover “Forgive me” (Williams, 9). Forgiveness is a very important part of love and, if this is a true relationship, the woman should be able to forgive the man. At the same time, if this bothers the woman, it can be a situation of growth in which the woman constructively explains her frustration to the man, who, ideally, promises to learn and get better.
“Love Medicine”, by Louise Erdrich, is a short story that examines the pain that comes from illness and the love that can be seen amidst the suffering. Grandma knows her husband’s mental capabilities have failed and that he is running around with another woman. However, she loves him just the same and is willing to do anything to win him back. This is seen when she eats a raw turkey heart “so (its love) power would go down strong as possible” (Erdrich, 232). Even through the pain of seeing her husband with another woman, Grandma has the strength to forgive him and continue to love him. In the end, after Grandpa has died, he comes back because “he loved (Grandma) over time and distance, but he went off so quick he never got the chance to tell (her) how he loves (her)…It’s true feeling (that brought him back)” (Erdrich, 236). Grandpa was handicapped because of his mental disease, but, in the end, he still found a way to ease Grandma’s mind and tell her he loves her.
Love is susceptible to the imperfections of this world. However, it is in the hard parts, the times of loss or shortcoming, when love can shine through strongest. True love can allow forgiveness and happiness like nothing else and, in the end, we should look back and be able to say that we never took those we loved for granted.