The Price of Love

A poem inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

What is the price of love?

What monetary number

is love’s equivalence

in terms of minted coin?

If love and money combine,

then how much money

must be spent to win

the love of our friends?

Perhaps love is measured

in golden chests?

Silver or a baser metal?

How does one judge their worth?

Their appearances contain merit,

but what’s inside counts even more.

Unhappiness abounds for those

not lead by wise mentality.

The meaning of price

is weighed in what is given.

How much does love weigh

in terms of a man?

Is the weight of love

the entirety of one man

or is it found in lesser mass?

Is it found inside? His heart perhaps?

Love is undefined

by amounts of money

and gilded chests.

Love cannot be weighed.