Poetry has gone out of favor in the modern world. Most people rarely read it and don't care for it. Maybe I'm biased as a lit major, but that's an absolute shame. Especially when it comes to love! Love Poems have been around forever and although people still write them, they are not as much a part of our culture as they should be. So if you're fortunate enough to have a Valentine this week, attach a poem to their gift. Even better, memorize it and share it with them.
Remember in elementary school when you had to memorize a poem? It was always difficult and frustrating at first, but when you really memorized the poem it was magical. Years later you can probably still recall bits and pieces of childhood poems.
So here's my challenge to you:
find a love poem this week and memorize it. Poetry takes more time, and memorizing a poem simply affords you that time. You'll understand it better and you'll surely like it better. All throughout the week, carry a poem with you and learn it's nuances. Memorize it and it will be yours to keep forever--- or to someday give to someone you love.
I was going to post a lot of poems today, but I chose to only include one. This love poem was once sent to me by someone, and later quoted to me by the same person. Although things never worked out (and for good reasons) I am still touched by that gesture. I ended up having to write a paper and memorize this exact poem in an ironic twist of fate last fall in my intro to poetry class. So here's the poem I carry around with me. You can memorize this or find your own. I'll try and post another poem every day for the rest of the week, too!
since feeling is first
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
- the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other; then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
e. e. cummings
