Love Poems

  Poem 5 by Catullus (circa 84-54 BC) translated from Latin by Mary Jane Myers Ah, Lesbia, lust’s our sweet pastime. Old codgers censure us en bloc. Their gossip’s worth not one thin dime. Dawn always breaks in each epoch, but our span’s brief. Life’s suns soon set, we slumber...

  Amore If looks could kill I’d be a dead man walking. Your drop-dead beauty has me in its spell. If I were deaf, I’d yearn to hear you talking, For beautiful would be your words as well. You’d be a perfect film noir femme fatale. You’ll always win my...

  À la Carte A crouton on a flaccid salad, Your dinner date adds texture to An otherwise anemic toss, And with a tint not half so pallid Promotes your lettucey appeal To something more than total loss. So drink the wine and thank the Father For garnishing your evening...

  Waiting for the Perfect Man A woman waiting for the perfect man, though she was far from perfect, had a list of qualities a man must have. Her plan to claim perfection could not be dismissed; on certain traits, she simply must insist. When she was thirty-five and still...

  Where the Ground Gives Way Once I took your face into my hand, and sunlight showed the tears within your eyes; it seemed we stood on slowly yielding land, where something long concealed began to rise. No word was said—yet both of us could feel a hidden current moving...

  Canzone of Parting   I There are secluded places in the wild Where the breeze settles, like a weary child, Down on the mossy blanket of the heath, Ceasing to stir the surface of the leith; Nor can one hear the babbling of the rill __Where all the world...

  The Lip Surely before I have felt as though heaven _were pressed to my lips such as this, Yet touching your smile is so sweet I imagine _there never has been such a kiss. Riv’ling the ruby—the cottony soft— _as warm as a slow summer breeze. The ultimate passion—Love...

    A Wedding Song (Away the Winter) In May shall be her wedding day, When hawthorn blooms do scent the air, And she will dance in fine array, With fragrant flowers pinned in her hair. Away the winter, come the spring, She waits to wear her lover's ring. Away...

  The Willow Guard Beneath a willow weeps a girl, All hidden by green fronds that furl And stretch and wave and fondly curl __Upon the stream. The tree's her oyster; she the pearl __Cannot be seen. Amongst the water, leaves and birds She whispers woe and wistful words. Between...

  To Thine Own Text Be True For My Autocorrect on Valentine’s Day You turn my hope to mope, my bliss to dross, My win to sin, my better into bitter. Your lunacy has left me at a loss. You make my finer fellow-texters titter. I’m now a shitshow of...

Listen, Wishin' Star Listen, you cotton pickin’ Wishin’ Star, I know how far up in the sky you are. I sent a wish up to your starry vaults; I made a wish and I expect results. My wish was quite explicit. I told you who Was one I wished for,...

  Hallmark Holiday Some chocolates in a crimson, heart-shaped box— if ever there’s a thing that says I love you with much less of an effort (maybe socks, some roses or a teddy bear, what have you) I don’t know what it is. The corner stores, the pharmacies, the strip...

  The Mystery That Is You The gasping hulks of rusted wrecks that share with eyeless scavengers the mysteries of Styxlike depths; the lecherous affair of heaving earth expelling centuries of fetal carbons from its fiery womb; grotesque microbic warriors, whose fields of battle on a wisp of breath consume...

  Canzone Sung from the Mountains   I Above the source of the refreshing fountain, The sloping forest of the soaring pine, And all the clouds, with careful steps I climb, Passing each root and crevice in the mountain, Until at last, I look upon the brine As might a...

  Why Did I Kiss You? _I kissed you with no warning. _You softly asked me why. _I said that passion baffles, _that it can mystify. The reasons why I kiss you are _like petals on a rose. There are so many that it’s hard _to pin it down. Who...

  Shards How unexpected did that moment come; How swift and sudden did that moment pass. A fleeting touch that left my spirit numb; A shattered mirror, shards of broken glass. A moment etched into my memory As if engraved on cold, unbending stone. A passing moment in eternity; A...

  Two Sonnets by Nino Martoglio (1870-1921) translated from Sicilian by Joseph S. Salemi   I. Young lady, you who work embroidery At your small loom, behind the window’s glass— Tell me, why is it that you gaze at me When there in the morning I go by and pass?...

  Sunrise The world is blue at its beginning. Birth is what we wait for, at the edge of earth. __The vague waves lap the shore, __swelled by an unseen oar from where the sea and sky are blurred one blue, a periwinkle, hazy stretch of hue, __a bar of...

  Canzone at Evening by Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) translated from Italian by Margaret Coats At the hour when heaven rapidly recedes To greet the West, and our day flies away To those who are perhaps expecting it, Alone and far from where she used to stay, A pilgrim, old and...

  Encounters It seemed in dreams, as shadows we convene, two drifting souls that meet yet never stay; was it mere thought, or something sensed between? You shifted shape, then softly slipped away, and I, half-waking, felt you passing through--- an echoed word I almost heard you say. Life is...

  Practicing Brahms ---Piano Solo, Intermezzo, Op 118 No. 2 (1893) My Steinway's gelid lacquered keys turn gauzy. The notes and markings that Johannes wrote (composed with goose-wing feather quills) now float aloft in realms of lush melodic poesy--- pining for Clara, forty fervid years la belle dame sans merci---unconsummated....

  A Solace   I. High hills we climb Till my coat is worn, “To the end of time, We’ll never be torn.” Her pleading I hear In my heart, in tears.   II. I caress the threads, Of the coat she wove, I'll wear forever Wherever---in snow.    ...

. A Century's Divinity Another time, another place, A waft of smoke, a peaceful space, Atop the club---a Deke at Yale, And Vassar maiden, by the rail. Alone they stood, alone they spoke, Postured classic, lass and bloke, A century's divinity, Not far from our proximity. Far from perfect: Mother,...

. Come Away with Me ___I ___Come away with me, ___Birds will never sing ___In the place where we ___View no flower in Spring, Nor behold the sight of any natural thing. ___II ___Vain is it to build ___Brick by brick our dome, ___Nature having willed ___Animals to roam Over...

. Lyrics by Philodemus of Gadara (circa 1st century BC) translated from Greek by Joseph S. Salemi . V.13 Charito is past sixty, and yet still Her lustrous black hair falls in thick cascades; Still those ungirdled breasts stand firm and white As marble cones upon her naked chest; Still...

. Sally in Our Alley ---written by Henry Carey (born Aug. 26) in 1725 Of all the girls that are so smart _There’s none like pretty Sally; She is the darling of my heart, _And she lives in our alley. There is no lady in the land _Is half so...

. Ten Floors I stepped into our building’s entranceway.It was aglow from bright sunshine that day.With friends she walked inside as I got there,So beautiful I had to stop and stare. Without a chance to speak, my next resortWas get the building manager’s report!Thus armed, I neared her door, in...

. This poetry challenge comes from poet Roy E. Peterson: Provide a poem about your inspiring Muse. If you name a Muse, put it in a poet's note at the bottom of your poem. If it is someone living, you need not reveal their name. For those who do not...

. There Was a Time I Tried to Love the Sun There was a time I tried to love the Sun. I saw his golden splendor in the sky At Lammastide, when harvest had begun, Aflame above the windswept fields of rye. I thought to love him would be good...

. Advice to a Young Man in Love If her name is Sally, then _Tattoo it on your arm With Lovehearts terminally, and _It won’t do any harm, Because, when Sally breaks your heart, _There’s Sallys up and down Quite every street in every part _Of every country town. But...

. Aubade at Seven AM The years have fled, and time so swiftly flees,since that brief hour when you and I first met;but how we loved I still remember yet;so purely did you live and love and please.You were a wonder then and still are now,a form of beauty and...

. For Liza Am I Westward Bound _The year was 1868, __The place—Old King James’ town, _Young John was by his window sat, __Entranced and looking down. _For walking by was Liza Jane, __With flowers in her hair. _In all his life, he’d never seen __A lady quite so fair....

. Cardinals The cardinal is my favorite bird.They mate for life, or so I’ve heard.You hear them sing antiphonally—it’s like a game they play, you see,because they like to keep in touch.But be apart? Well, not so much. In that, they’re just like you and me(save that our home is...

. Six Bitter were the crimson seeds, Beautiful they were to me, Sparkling like ruby beads, In his palm of ivory. Dark they were to look upon, Rivers rushing down to mix: Phlegethon and Acheron, Lethe, Cocytus, and Styx. Bitter did they roar and weep, Yet harmonious to me, Singing...

. I Would Say Yes ---a villanelle for Larry on our 36th Anniversary We were young and rather stupid then, But still I see that we were meant to be. I would say yes a thousand times again. From the first we’ve been the best of friends; Life was simple...

. . . Steve Cooper is a retired professional career counselor. He lives near Salem, Oregon. He has one traditionally published picture book on Amazon, Don’t Eat Your Seed Corn, and several of his pieces have been published in the annual literary print anthology from Portland Writer’s Mill.

. My Fairytale You could be my Cinderella _I danced with at the ball. You’re the one I’m looking for _Since you first fled the hall. You could be in sleep awaiting _Like the poisoned Snow White. You may see me as Prince Charming— _An antidote to night. You could...

. Since You’ve Been at My Side ---a villanelle Embraced by love, since you’ve been at my sideI’ve found the strength to hope for better days,As if uplifted by a rising tide. When feeling lost, with you my faithful guide,I’ve found my way through detours and delaysEmbraced by love, since...

. A Waltz of Longing In the heat of the day, we begin With a glance and a breath, cheek to chin. Though our steps misalign, still we glide With a tremble of flame in our stride. It’s a perilous waltz that we turn, And in red and in gold,...

. Wedding Night by Christine de Pisan (1364--c. 1430)translated by Margaret Coats A sweet supremacy marks marriage;I prove it from experience.I have a husband good and sage,Bestowed through God’s great providence;Praised be His saving diligence!This holy state serves to excelAll treasures of benevolence,For sure, my sweet one loves me well....