Valentine’s Day makes me uneasy. I am unsure of this moment where society says, “Declare your love now.” I am not normally obedient. I do not see why I should be obedient now.
But what I am happy to do here is gather up some thoughts of how I love. I will pick two poems that have often reminded me of Himself. I don’t often share poems but I know you guys are a literary lot. I think you can take it.
The first is-
Renouncement
by Alice Meynell
I must not think of thee; tired yet strong,
I shun the thought that lurks in all delight-
The thought of thee-and on the blue Heaven’s height,
And in the sweetest passage of a song.
Oh, just beyond the fairest thoughts that throng
This breast, the thought of thee waits, hidden yet bright;
But it must never, never come in sight;
I must stop short of thee the whole day long
But when sleep comes to close each difficult day,
When night gives pause to the long watch I keep
And all my bonds I needs must loose apart
Must doff my will as raiment lain away,-
With the first dream that comes with the first sleep
I run, I run, I am gathered to thy heart.
This poem reminds me of us, all of us. It reminds me of the secrets we keep, about how we love and what we love. We find a space to express our love and the way that we love, not just in our dreams and our sleep but here, in these places.
This space is where I can speak out about this love, it is where I can show its form. I do love him. I know we are miles apart but I think of him, a thread through the maze, the way through. I love him.
I do talk about him in my day. People know his name and who he is. But they do not know who I am when I am with him, they do not know how this love transforms me. That is the secret we keep and the truth I tell in the night to him in a whisper and to all of you here.
This next poem, I pondered about. I think it is written from a woman to a woman and Dev is no woman and has no red curls. But he came to me after an event, not a man, had almost wiped me out. I was lost in a well of grief and the small circle of sky was shrinking a little more every day. I did not even care; I knew I was losing myself but it did not matter.
This poem reminds me of the comfort of his love, the almost paternal care he offers and how he swept into every part of my life. There is a gentle comfort a girl has in friendship with another girl and I get that from him, just as much as I get the sexual joy and the dominance from him. For the hair, read the power of his words, how he expresses ideas, himself and how he wrote me before we even met.
Magnificat
by Michele Roberts
oh this man
what a meal he made of me
how he chewed and gobbled and sucked
in the end he spat me all out
You arrived on the dot, in the nick
Of time, with your red curls flying
I was about to slip down the sink like grease
I nearly collapsed, I almost
Wiped myself out like a stain
I called for you and you came, you voyaged
Fierce as a small archangel
You declared the birth of a new life
In my kitchen there was an annunciation
And I was still, awed by your hair’s glory
you commanded me to sing of my redemption
oh my friend, how
you were mother for me, and how
I could let myself lean on you
comfortable as an old cloth
familiar as enamed saucepans
I was a child again, pyjama’ed
in winceyette, my hair plaited, and you
listened, you soothed me like cake and milk
you listened to me for three days, and I poured
it out, I flowed all over you like wine, like oil
you touched the place where it hurt
at night, we slept together in my big bed
your shoulder eased me towards dreams
when we met, I tell you
it was a birthday party, a funeral
it was body communion
between women, a Visitation
it was two old she goats butting
and nuzzling each other in the smelly fold.
Finally, I would like to simply say that I love him. Love is inconvenient, it is haphazard. Love does not obey the rules it ought to and rides roughshod over the rules passed down to us when we were children and read books of how it would be and should be. Love is uncaring of location or situation. But this shocking, blustering, earthquake of a love has transformed me.
I hope that you are with your Valentine. I hope that you can dream of your Valentine, even if that is a shape, unformed as yet, a hope or a dream of a Valentine. I hope that you love, that you are loved and that you are open to love because I know that whoever you are and whatever your story is – you deserve love.
Poppy
From another that is miles away from the one she loves, this was beautiful and poignant.
Happy Valentine’s day to you! :love
Raven,
Thank you. You were absolutely one of the people in my head when I wrote this.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you too. :love
Beautiful Poppy.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you. :love
Love,
Ronnie
xx
You deserve love too, Poppy, and you have it. Not just from your beloved, but from us all.
Big warm hugs…
Poppy, good morning :rose :rose :rose :sun :rainbow
As I have said before, when two people truly love, they make the world a better place, not just for themselves, but for all the touch. :happy
The first poem of a secret love, that must be hidden, because ‘society’ doesn’t approve.
It expresses a feeling we all know, more beautifully than most of us are able. :rainbow :sun
Magnificat. a poem of reconstruction, if Himself has done this for you, then he has worked a wonderful miracle, worthy of Archangel Michael himself.
Two poems, far better than this day, which is largely artificial and wholly commercial,
and really has very little to do with love. :love
I hope that this day, Monday, goes well for you, if it helps, I’m thinking of you both.
:rose :4leaf
Love and warm hugs, :love
Paul.
Thank you, Ronnie. Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
Erica, lovely and wonderful. Look at you spreading the love!
Paul, I determined that this day (and all the others) should have something to do with love, no matter what kind of love it may be, have a wonderful day.
Poppy, that is really beautiful. I normally just ignore Valentines Day, but you and Dev have transformed it into something special with your posts.
What a touching tribute to love, Poppy. The last line of Renouncement will stay with me all day: “I run, I run, I am gathered to thy heart.”
This feels like a gentle day, a day of missing people we can’t be with, but of loving the ones close enough to hug. I wish for everyone that there is someone near you who will love you today, and that this someone is the kind who likes to hug. :love
Absolutely beautiful, Poppy.
Happy Valentines Day Poppy xx … Two not so demure more full on snog kisses by return !!
MarQe
Sorry.
I had a missing Dev couple of hours. So I hid and sulked but I am all better now.
Alice, thank you. I think Valentine’s Day can be such a double edged sword and I am determined that if I am wielding the sword that no one shall be got by it. We are mistresses of our own destiny and all that.
Scarlet, that is my favourite line too. I do feel a lot of love today. I hope you do too. It is about seeing the love you are all ready surrounded by, isn’t it?
Dev, I miss you.
Marque, you made me chuckle. I am not even going to explain your comment to anyone else- let them wonder.
Poppy, may each and every day be a happy Valentine’s Day for you and Dev. :love
I love poetry. There is not enough of it in this world. Thankfully we have beautiful people like you to share it with us, reminding us of the perfection of words.
This was a truly lovely post. It seems to me that you and Dev share a warmth and a love uncommon among those of us who are geographically closer to our loved ones. That speaks loudly.
Happy Valentine’s, Poppy and Dev!
Hugs,
Pink
Beautiful poems, Poppy. I hope everyone takes time to enjoy the holiday in some way even if its just sharing a treat with your pet. They love us unconditionally. (and they don’t spank)
Mindy, thank you and I think it is.
Pink, you say the kindest things. Thank you. xx
Kaki, I made soufflés! My first ones ever – not to be tried when I have a dinner party and they rocked! And they were a treat.
Congratulations Poppy! I never tried a souffle, I hear they are difficult. Did you make a sweet or savory type ? A chocolate one with strawberries sounds good. mmm
Kaki,
spoonful of Nutella, melt it for thirty seconds in the microwave.
Chop up a banana and get a couple of handfuls of blueberries- stir all together.
Eat and say yummy, yummy.
mmmm that sounds yummy. I have strawberries and bananas I will try.
A beautiful post; and thank you for leaving wonderful Valentine wishes for my Himself and me. It is a very special day for us. I hope that you and Dev find yourselves on the same side of the ocean soon.
:love
Ari
Kaki, it is wonderful, utterly wonderful and scrummy. Well done for finding it. I thought I had posted this on the other site!
Arianna, thank you too and you are most welcome. xx