.
Christmas 2010
“Love isn’t something you find.
Love is something that finds you.” —Loretta Young
I hadn’t given up on love.
I simply thought it couldn’t be.
I wouldn’t buy the concept of
A oneness for eternity
But musings passing back and forth
For moons across five thousand miles,
From southern burn and frosted north
Held fire and ice and smiles and trials.
A miracle of time and place
Put wildest joy within my reach.
Wrapped within its blaze and grace
Doubt melted on a winter beach.
Thirteen Christmases ago
I met the one I’ve always known.
In Devon, wave-crest white with snow,
I saw her soul in eyes that shone.
It’s true that stars and hearts align,
Though love so ever rarely will.
That’s why I’m thrilled that she is mine
And I am hers till time stands still.
.
.
Mike Bryant is a poet and retired plumber living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
This is so beautiful, Mike! “Wrapped within its blaze and grace / Doubt melted on a winter beach.” is such a perfect expression of the imagery of the time, the place, and the magical effect you’ve written about. “And I am hers till time stands still.” is heart-melting! I’d love to know whether this was recently written.
Thank you, Cynthia, yes this was very recent. Because it’s Christmas, and I was thinking of Christmases past, I felt I had to relive my most important and wonderful Christmas… except for the last twelve!
I know exactly what you are talking about, Mike. So happy my friend Susan found hers.
Thank you, Sally… this is a great time of year for counting our blessings.
What a beautiful and touching poem that has that personal meaning and dimension. I always love a poem that is romantic and compelling, such as yours, that has that miracle of love ending! Thank you for sharing these feelings and precious moments with us.
Thanks, Roy, I think when you have experienced such love, it helps to appreciate, in a very limited way, the really unimaginable love that God has for us.
Mike, this is nicely done. It starts with contradictory and doubtful statements, but in the second lovely stanza foregoes gruff colloquiality for classic poetic words. The resolution comes with a warm expression still somewhat contradictory, “Doubt melted on a winter beach.” In fact, you bring back the doubtful tone even after the resolution in “love so ever rarely will”–but go on to proclaim your own apparent miracle in the final two lines. The epigraph from Loretta Young is a good explanatory anchor point for a satisfying love poem.
Thank you Margaret, I really do believe that love is a precious commodity for fallen humanity… scarcer than diamonds and gold and far more valuable.
Love it, Mike, and so must Susan. A perfect gift.
Thank you, JD, for your lovely gift of a comment.
Mike, this poem makes me so happy! The poem is so beautiful. I refer, of course, to the language and imagery, but — most especially — because it is so obviously sincere. You wear your heart on your sleeve and it truly becomes you. Having met both you and Susan, it makes me nod with confidence that, yes, this is who the two of you are. This Christmas gift for us is extra special knowing that you are indeed each other’s best possible Christmas gift!
Thanks, Brian, I have always been too forthcoming for my own good! Love me or hate me, no one ever has to wonder how I feel.
I really enjoyed meeting you and Josh… perhaps Evan should arrange poetry confab soon… maybe in Nashville?
Lovely Mike, that ‘Susan’ moment!!! Happy Christmas!
Thanks James, Happy Boxing Day! I have set up a ring in the back garden. Soon Susan will be opening her special hidden gift… a pair of Boxing Gloves. I’m always embracing English traditions.
This is a beautiful love poem and gift to Susan. The last line brought happy tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing this Mike.
Thank you, Norma, now dry those tears and share all the laughter with us today 🙂
There’s nothing like the personal touch to raise a poem up a notch or two.
Thanks, Paul, and Happy Boxing Day. I hope you are enjoying it in Merry Olde England.
Wow Mike, love poems don’t get any better than this. A wonderful celebration of love between two great wordsmiths. This is great. Thank you for sharing with us all.
Thanks, Jeff, and thanks for all your beautiful contributions in poetry and music. I don’t say it often enough.
To Mike and Susan —
May God bless and keep you both, for many more Christmases.
Thanks so much, Joseph… Susan and I wish all the best for you and yours this coming year. We appreciate all you do here at SCP to keep it exciting, entertaining, inspirational and, most of all, educative.
You are a blessed man, to be able to live and love as you do. Thank you for sharing this lovely poem, may your love last forever. Hope ya’ll have a happy new Year.
Thank you Yael, I am a very lucky man. Susan and I wish you and your family a blessed new year.
As others have noted, Mike, you done good.
Thanks, C.B. I really appreciate it.
Mike, you warmed a lot of hearts with this poem! Everyone who has experienced the miracle of unexpectedly finding their true life partner can relate to the line “I met the one I’ve always known.” A perfect poem for the Christmas season!
Thanks, Carey… talk about a bolt out of the blue! I thank God for sending Susan to me.
Amazing love story! An old friend of mine used to say that Christmas, not Valentine’s, was the most romantic holiday of the year.
Thank you, Monika. I’ve never really thought about it before, but I do agree now that Christmas is definitely more romantic than Valentine’s Day.
Thanks, Mike for the beautiful sentiment in beautifully crafted poem. “I met the one I’ve always known” reminds me of a poem I wrote long ago about the wife I would one day meet.
Thanks, Jeff. I wonder how that happens. I am grateful for the wonder and the happening.
What I love about this particular love story is that it’s a true story (as opposed to those formulaic Hallmark romance movies my mother watches every year), and that the love clearly has lasted to this day (whereas in stories “happily ever after” depends on where you end the story).
Thanks Josh, I’m partial to the old attitude that everything always works out in the end… and if everything ain’t working out, it just means that it ain’t the end yet.