David John Scanlon's "The Love" is built on a simple turn. Three times the speaker says his love is "bounded," then adds what it is *not* bounded by: the dull routine of the day, his own work-weary, self-doubting side, or his partner's tireless drive to achieve. Each of them hides these flaws "so poorly," which suggests both people can see through the act, and perhaps that this is part of what makes the love real.
In the final stanza the word changes to "unbounded." The couple see each other "for what we are," trusting and supporting one another's gifts while trying to rein in the urge to do everything. The last line repeats the earlier joke, "Which we do so poorly," but now it sounds gentle and affectionate rather than ashamed. The mood is warm, honest and quietly humorous. The poem admits that ordinary life is tiring and that both people are imperfect, yet it settles on acceptance and contentment rather than complaint.