Another Love Poem

Here's an unusual love poem:

:

VALENTINE

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.

It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.

It promises light

like the careful undressing of love.

Here.

It will blind you with tears

like a lover.

It will make your reflection

a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or kissogram.

I give you an onion.

Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,

possessive and faithful

as we are,

for as long as we are.

Take it.

Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,

if you like.

Lethal.

Its scent will cling to your fingers,

cling to your knife. 

        by Carol Ann Duffy

        From New and Selected Poems 1984-2004 (Picador, 2004) 

Carol Ann Duffy is the former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom (2009-2019), the first female and first Scottish Poet Laureate in the role's 400-year history.

CONSIDER WRITING A LOVE POEM

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it so consider writing a love poem.

You may want to start off writing a short poem. Certainly Emily Dickinson's poems are concise.

It's all I have to bring today (26) 

It's all I have to bring today⎯
This, and my heart beside⎯

This, and my heart, and all the fields⎯

And all the meadows wide⎯

Be sure you count—should I forget

Some one the sum could tell⎯

This, and my heart, and all the Bees

Which in the Clover dwell.

            --Emily Dickinson

For a subject, consider writing about when you first met, describing how you felt and where you were. Or about one of your first dates. Don't forget to ground your poem with heartfelt messages.

One way to write a short poem is to construct it along the lines of a cinquain—but instead of counting syllables as in the traditional cinquain, use words. Jennifer Goode offers suggestions on how to write this short poem:

In line 1, use a noun (that also can be the poem's title)⎯1 word

line 2: a description⎯2 words

line 3: an action⎯3 words

line 4: a feeling (use a phrase)⎯4 words

line 5: a noun (either repeat line 1 or use a synonym) ⎯1 word

Here's what I wrote using Jennifer Goode's exercise:

YOUR KISSES

Kisses,

tasty cocktails,

intoxicate with touching

tenderness. I treasure each

embrace.

Another mode to use is to write an acrostic poem in which every line starts with a letter of a word that is displayed vertically:

    Y

    O

    U

    A

    R

    E

    M

    Y

    A

    L

    L 

Or you could use the letters of "I love you" vertically.

Or use your sweetie's name or a nickname you call him or her.

And finally for the last-minute love-poem writer, there's a website that let's you fill in the blanks (Remember MadLibs?):

www.links2love.com/poem_generator_.htm

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