Love is one of the hardest feelings to put into words, but poetry is a great way to try. The romance of first love or forever love can be so beautifully illustrated through the written word. It’s one of those things where we read it and can immediately think of a particular person or a time when we felt that intensity coursing through our veins.
When we share romantic works with others, it is a chance to try and show them exactly how they make us feel. It is a chance for us to think about exactly how we, ourselves, feel. Love is beautiful, complicated, and so unique to the individual. Luckily, we have so many talented poets in this community that can help us put this incredible state of being into the most eloquent words.
There is no more precious a privilege
than to be loved
without reserve or judgement.
To look deeply/into your partner’s eyes
and see that despite/your many faults and flaws,
you are cherished
precisely as you are.
Once you have known a love
like that in your life,
it stays with you forever.”
This is such a beautiful picture of what love in its rawest and purest form can be: a safe space to be imperfect and flawed. This is a lovely reminder of what we can strive to be for others and strive to find for ourselves.
You make me feel things
so many things…
I have never felt before.
You are maddening
and confusing and strong
and silent.
You thrill me and terrify me.
But mostly, you are beautiful and I loved you.
I love you still
And, I will never love like this again.
I have never loved like this before.
N.R. Hart is one of the top names I think of when I explore romantic poetry. She knows precisely how to describe the many emotions that encompass love: the passion, the fear, the excitement, the curiosity.
I love this piece because it presents love in such a real way. The person we love can be maddening sometimes, but we can still be madly in love with them. They can confuse us, yet we’ve never felt more certain of what we feel about them. I also love how she touches on how scary and exhilarating it can be when you find the love that changes everything.
Real love is always
a little bit messy,
and if people tell you
it’s peaches and sunshine, roses without thorns
they are lying.
Either due to ignorance or they have not fully loved.
I may not know much, but I know
a thing or two about real love
and I promise you, the best ones
are full of messy imperfections.
This piece really spoke to me because it is celebrating love and all of its vulnerability. This poem is an honest portrayal of how we love: we are imperfect, so our love will always be imperfect. It will be messy, it will be flawed, but that never changes the fact that it is beautiful, and it is constantly growing and evolving with us. Love makes us better. And even though we may never be perfect, we can count on love to help make us the most perfectly imperfect people we can be.
One day, someone will love you the way
you deserve to be loved and you
won’t have to
-fight for it.”
I wanted to finish the piece with one for anyone who is in between love stories. I know I have needed these words many times throughout my life. We need to be reminded that the right love will stay. Relationships are hard, and you may need to fight to make them better, but you shouldn’t have to fight to make someone stay.
I think this short piece serves as a simple reminder that real love is out there, and real love is worth fighting for. It has undertones of hope as well as self-worth. We all deserve great love, and it is worth waiting for.
No matter where you are in your journey with love, I hope these pieces spoke to you. I hope the poems have reminded you that love is an incredibly humbling, imperfect experience with those we share it with. May we always remember how rare this kind of love is and cherish it. And, if we are still looking for love, may we love ourselves enough to know that the real thing will be worth the wait.
