ODE TO LOVE

I haven’t written a rhyming poem since I was a child! Sitting on my back lanai watching a painted gecko dipping into my spent teacup on a blissful, sunny Hawaiian winter day, I thought, ‘Why not have some fun?’ And so I offer up this little ditty.

Happy Valentine’s Day, beloveds everywhere!

ODE TO LOVE

Love is gentle, love is kind;

It lifts us up, dear ones enshrined

in magic, bliss; a thousand verbs

have sung its praises

O, hear the words!

I love you, want, I

need you near;

Should something happen –

you disappear – I’d suffer

endless days and nights

in torture, longing

to take flight

away from pain too great to bear.

(Would time refill that empty chair?)

If ever you should chance to meet

a person close as skin; their feet

as precious as a heart-shaped face –

no one could ever take their place –

Just count your lucky stars,

and then? Keep loving women,

loving men and children,

dogs and horses, too – extending

love to something new

until your arms stretch far and wide

o’er hill and vale; ‘cross truth and lies

and finally reach that journey’s end:

beloved self,

beloved friend.

~ BJ