Romance

Romance is the spice
That gives exotic flavor
To the things I do,
The people I meet
And the places I go.
It has the ability to make
That which is ordinary
Seem extraordinary.
I have been both
Moved by its presence
And driven by its absence.
I found that
Without its tangy influence,
Life becomes tasteless
And relationships go stale.
Preferring vibrant to bland,
I sought it out.
Imagining it to be a function
Of just the right setting,
Chemistry, place or time,
Some physical attraction
Sweeping me off my feet,
I intensified my pursuit
Of those elements.
My search got me into
Some interesting situations,
But the romance I found
Was fleeting at best.
It eventually dawned on me
That what I sought
Came from within, not without.
It was my mind at play
And nothing more,
A fictitious tale I invented,
A mood I set
And often blamed on others.