Love By Degrees

Love By Degrees

Does love,
like pain,
have varying degrees?
Is there such a thing
as bearable love?
excruciating love?
love so strong
that it causes
one to pass out from it?
Is there a splint,
a cast,
one can wear
for a broken heart?
Are there pills
that can cure one of love?
Can they be prescribed
by a doctor and bought
over-the-counter?
Or does one purchase them
from the corner anti-love dealers
and love junkies
after driving late at night
to the seedy side of town
wearing a dark disguise?
Are there medical procedures
that can be performed
under anesthesia
to cut out love?
(do we then hide these scars
or display them proudly?)
Are there vitamins and such
one can swallow,
or a healthy diet and regimen
one can follow
that will prevent such things
as the common love virus?
And for those of us
that are the most desperate
and careless,
is there a condom
we can wear
to prevent us from contracting
the human-incurable-love virus?
I sweat and shake
alone in my bed
at night
while waiting for the answers.