Love Poems

. 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....

. Size Lies Clothing manufacturers are fond of tricks today, Making female customers feel good in one slick way--- Whatever size they’ve always been---they’re now two sizes smaller! So next they might try making men think they’re three inches taller. . . Bedrock Sometimes late at night when she’s sleeping,...

. Eternity If I could give her just one gift, What would she want that gift to be? Would she prefer a diamond ring Or roses spread across the sea? Would she prefer a priceless gem, A string of pearls, or maybe two? Would she suggest a trip to France...

. A Faithful Friend's Advice The girl you have is just the one for you— my head could not conceive a better match. She is your sun, your earth, the very glue that rightly holds your tattered life attached. The stars aligned to seal your fate with her There is...

. Riverside Breeze ___How beautiful you look __Browsing the flowers one by one _While lying down along the babbling brook; ___And there, beneath the sun, __Whose melting kisses mark your skin, _The faintest of the zephyrs overrun ___The linen, wearing thin, __Of your translucent floral dress, _And as you fall...

. High Society The Cornelius mansion on Park Avenue, New York City, Sunday, August 22, 1886 A derby hat; a fresh, white boutonniereOn my lapel. You just can’t have a newBeau Brummel jacket without something brightTo make the pretty debutantes draw near---The girls who sigh that I’m a Wall Street...

. The Ballad of Shamus Well, Shamus were a likely lad wid a good well-meanin’ ‘eart As strong as O’Malley’s ox, ‘dey say—but only ‘alf as smart. ‘Is ‘eart belonged to Nellie, aye ‘e wished her for ‘is wife. An’ ‘e made up ‘is mind to win ‘er if it...

. The Four Seasons . Spring I Amidst the cloudless sky and crimson dawn Comes bursting forth the bluebird’s orange breast, Whose shadow dances o’er the dewy lawn On having found last February’s nest; There he releases from his swollen chest A song to which the jay, the wren, the...

. The Tundra Swan Its full and light and interfolding feathers __Number ten thousand plus, No wonder that the tundra swan out-weathers __With less than little fuss __The brisk Antarctic breeze, Yet half of them are quite superfluous. __Dear swan, I ask you please __To lend some excess down To...

. Beyond All Words Can words alone, in skill-scribed shape or form— Inspired by muse or writ with feathered plume— Express the stark-dark depth of death-dread storm? Or fell despair of bleak-black hopeless doom? Can laureled laureate’s ode of limn-lit love Convey or capture rapture’s ecstasy? Or sonnets Portuguese dare...

. Pumpkin Spice The scent of Autumn lingers in the air With hints of ginger, cinnamon, and clove; At 42nd Street and Herald Square, On 8th Street, Bleecker, Christopher, and Grove--- Each crowded sidewalk, every crosswalk where New Yorkers sip their pumpkin latte dreams. The years run back to homemade...

. Gossiping Hinges Some think we hinges only squeak __because we seek __an oily drop __to make us stop, but hinges gossip day and night, __our message, quite __distinctive. We, __with raucous glee, say 'hi' to hinges down the street __we'd like to meet, __or squawk a song __for sing-a-long....

. Enamoured String me a strand of pure white pearls supernal, Warming my throat as quivering fingers do, Roughened but figuring tenderness eternal, My love is wholly kind, old, young, and true. Swing me sweet swirls of redolent effervescence From blossoming branches of heady magnolia sprung, Dewy ambrosia of long...

. . Der Knecht An einem Teich in einem Tal, am Felsenfuß entlang, Da steht ein Mädchen ohne Schal, als Decke nur der Hang. Vorbei bin ich schon hundertmal, mit Gaben und Gesang. Mein Singen ist ihr ganz egal, als wär’ es Vogelklang. Erhellt sie nur der Sonnenschein, zum Weinen...

. Mistaken Identity I never really found out who you are, I only saw what I preferred to see. I realise now it wasn’t meant to be. I thought you were my one true shining star, My cordon bleu, champagne and caviar But really you’re a lukewarm cup of tea....

. Aged Elation When reaching that age where you fear getting slow, The advent of faculties starting to go, It’s great inspiration---you can’t ask for more--- To figure out something you couldn’t before. . . Adaptation We aren’t blessed with complete compatibility. At times I’m not so sweet; you more...

. How Did You Woo Me? Let Me Count the Way You didn’t sweep in on a snowy steedClad in armor buffed until it glittered---A shining knight of bright and mighty deedClutching ribboned gifts on which you’d fritteredA wad of dosh from coffers spilling splendorTo get your dazzled damsel to...

. My Pensive Valentine Devout Love is not in the offered sweet, nor does Love proclaim in the proffered rose, nor the cliché tucked tight in a bouquet bought sight unseen, not in any of those mundane nudges and gestures, of one day, of one month, of each year, does...

. Lines for Your Valentines Without you here, my life is like A broken pencil, simply pointless. And if you tell me to take a hike, My legs won’t move, you’ve made them jointless. When I got up today I sneezed And God blessed me with seeing you. What’s that...

. The Great Rub-off Norm and Zip, in mismatched chairs, __were sipping tea and talking, when Desi, their loyal hound, said, “Listen, __you’re shedding like me!” (How shocking!) Norm spat out his quinoa, __Zip spat out her tea. Desi howled with laughter now: __“Just sayin’. Don’t blame me! And, by...

. Libra There in my hand I held a crystal vial Of distillation potent, red, and sweet, By which my broken heart was put on trial, And golden apples scattered at my feet. Ask not the name of him who gave to me The dark elixir, nor the price I...

. True Love On a hill far away, a true love waits, In a place of weathered, broken gates. And though the gates are falling down, One place on the hill is hallowed ground. Nothing moves on that faraway hill, But dry, dead leaves and a wind that’s chill. And...

. To Her Ghost: a Sequence from Orpheus Looks Back ---in memoriam Emily Desire Gaynor Rothman, 1964-2020 . 1. Breaking Open A sonnet tells the lover’s tale becauseIt is the lover’s sonnet. Lovers loveTo talk about themselves, making what wasSupposed to be a labor of their loveInto an avatar of...

. Death Is But a Passing A death is but a passing from one world into another, A change of state, a change of place, a starting to discover, A test of fortitude perhaps for those I leave behind, A change of worlds, a change of views, another state of...

. Imitating Shakespeare’s Sonnet 107 . Sonnet 107 __by William Shakespeare Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul Of the wide world dreaming on things to come, Can yet the lease of my true love control, Supposed as forfeit to a confined doom. The mortal moon hath her eclipse...

. Telepathy Your reticence to speak is no deterrent To my delight to be in your vicinity--- Presence and chatter need not be concurrent; Lack of the latter won’t change my affinity For your dark liquid eyes: I’d rather plumb Their depths at leisure, while your lips are dumb. ....

. In a Twenty-minute Tuk-tuk Ride That day, the river of our luck had dried. No taxis. Air-conditioned buses crammed with half the town. Just when I said, "We're dammed," a tuk-tuk by the roundabout defied my words. Its backseat, partly occupied by an old couple, still contained enough capacity...

. Madrigal à la Tasso The surface of the lake reflects the flight _Of one and then another swan; _How it would add to my delight __To know where each has gone, _As when, my love, I look upon Those rapid thoughts which pass from left to right _Across the...

. The Force of Dreams I dreamed of you last night.  I dreamed and dreamed, Yet more, as if there never had been dreams In me before.  Reality it seemed Had never been reality.  Green dreams Of Eden never could have been like you There in this night of nights....

. Catullus XI Furius and Aurelius, my two friends, Whether I go to farthest India, The shore by ever-pounding Eastern seas Beaten by tide-waves, To Hyrcania, or Arabia’s pillowed ease, Scythia, arrow-bristling Parthia, Waters commingled with the seven-fold River of Egypt, Whether I climb and cross the tall cold Alps,...

. Coupled in Rhyme She sees me better than I do, so in her sight I strive to be worthy to lie with, never to lie to. She knows me better than my best, brings comfort to my days, makes manifest the loving balm of actuality; in her calm embrace...

. Observation ____Comes morning, __And fog fills the forest Where bluebirds are wet on the wings. ____The toadstools __Are soaking up moisture, One cricket in solitude sings. ____The fog lifts __And drifts like a phantom; Trees are subdued in a shroud. ____A vapor __Descends low and lower To hang o'er...

. It’s Only a Thought It’s only a thought to help pass the night, But what if our love should come to naught? Christ! That would be an unbearable plight. __It’s only a thought. But thoughts can stir feelings and feelings distraught Can so swiftly put slumber to flight. It’s...

. Across a Strong Bridge upon the marriage of two friends In a weary world that's grown quite old, Where men grow weak, and thought grows cold, Two hearts can make one serious dent For virtue strong. As cool as mint--- Transforming ice, into this force: Connecting love---a Cross, of course....