governing force

A precept, a moral, a truth universally acknowledged:
Garb yourself in frugality, as a young person.
Shield yourself from the storms of life by rejecting excess.
Learn discretion as soon as possible.

With sex, with money; food and health
Always be looking to the sharper side
Skint yourself by the blood and knuckles
Trust working wisdom, it'll all turn out fine

Go low and go slow
Work it taut now; slack off later
Put every penny into the fund
Thirty, forty, fifty years

But know this, above all that:
You don't have to be less to be more.
You don't have to shrink down to grow.
Be frugal in all these things, yes

but never be frugal in love.

Because you should've gone without the extra shoes 'n' knapsack
But you'll walk in to work tomorrow and make the dollars back
Because you could've done without the sushi dinner out
But the ginger cleared your sinuses and now you feel like cooking
Because you would've avoided that relationship if you knew yourself now
But the you you know now is only here because you learned from it

Because you shoulda, coulda, woulda visited those folks that made you feel loved and wanted and good
But you said you shoulda, coulda, woulda rather not bother (them).
Because you shoulda, coulda, woulda played that concert for free just to put a smile on a little kid's face
But you said you shoulda, coulda, woulda rather save your time and energy (and let someone else take your spot).

And that's the thing about love - it doesn't diminish.
It changes but never alters, constant and quotidian; sunshine to follow the rain
Love is free, so you cannot spend it or bear out your balance
And yet, it finds itself the root of all ultimate generosity

It will not come, truly, with any less reprobation, hereafter, even in fond memories
Love is now, and now, and now

The more given, the more had; a self-compounding withdrawal
And most of all, love is alive, because love is life itself

Without it, we are all only dying.

What do you save, holing yourself up?

Whom do you save?

What chill leaves you when you leave a favorite sweater unused on a chair?
What good is the stifling of the electric bill, when there's no hug to replace it?

The world is turning. We all know it.
Scrimp your savings, so you can get there faster.
It might just turn a little slower,
if you indulge in connection, along the way.