If ever there was an excuse to pamper oneself and pig out on chocolate, guilt free, Valentine’s Day is it. Maybe that’s why it’s one of my favourite special days of the year.
Here are a few poems from Joseph Robert and I that are either romantic, or sentimental, or both. Hope you can enjoy them whether you’re looking for love, loved up, or simply loving being single.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all!
1. A poem for those looking for love:
Landmass
By Leilanie Stewart
First published in Jellyfish Whispers (2013).
There is a lone stack
standing out at sea, a sad
promontory that’s jutting
beyond the riptides. I often
watch it and wonder why
there’s only one, because,
surely if it was formed by erosion
there’d be more along the coast
This is a desolate beach to walk along
and when I go there by myself, I try to
imagine that under the surface of the water
the cliff and the stack are touching, holding
onto one another through the swells, and
though the peaks and troughs will do their
damage, what is under the surface will
never be erased, and never be separated.
2. A poem for those who are loved up:
Mate
By Joseph Robert
First published in Black Mirror Magazine (2014)
Playmate, soul mate, helpmate, workmate, housemate,
Fuck mate, and fellow coconspirator,
You’ve checkmated my heart,
Each morning and night, year upon year,
That’s it,
We’ve both won,
And have our season tickets for front row seats,
To the all-nighter matinee,
That is the raucous comedy of life,
Snuggle up close,
For I’ve never heard anything half as wondrous,
As your knowing laugh,
Let’s celebrate, together, again and to the end,
Let’s enjoy the show!
3. A sentimental poem for all:
This is the soppiest I can get
By Leilanie Stewart
First published in Nostrovia Magazine (2013).
The world was full
Of upside down teardrops
You turned them around
And made them into hearts
You stuck them on
A sheet of cloth
I wore them proudly
It’s the toughest fabric I know
Because you wove
A part of yourself into it
Just for me.
Leilanie Stewart 