L - O - V - E

with gratitude to Syed Masood who graciously shared this photo from Pakistan

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! And Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad (tomorrow, the 15th)!

Here is a poem I wrote last year. I dedicate this to all the new daddies of daughters (like my brother and others whom I have been seeing on Facebook!) who will teach them how to dance and be in this world by letting them stand on their toes till they get the moves down (my favorite memory of my dad). I dedicate this to all the mom's who tirelessly hold and sing to their sons who need calming (especially my sister). I dedicate this to all the wannabe mommies and daddies who are working so hard to adopt and give good homes, and to all those who have adopted and are raising children born of their hearts (like Kate, Lis, Chrissy). 

I dedicate this poem to all who love with no apparent show of love in return to remember that we are the result of the love of thousands. It is IMPOSSIBLE to be without some expression of love at some point in our lives. Today I celebrate THIS love - the love that reaches out to us beyond our boundaries of what love is "supposed" to look like. I dedicate this poem to all who have learned to open their heart to the fire of love that purifies us into ever more selfless human beings, caring for each other and for all of life with reverence. May you remember you are loved!

Below it I have a poem by my dear sister friend Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. I love the tender gratitude expressed in this pure and simple poem about companionship. I dedicate this poem to all who are in this kind of love, putting the work in that it takes to see each other through the challenges. I dedicate this poem to all who dream of such love someday who are putting the work in to BECOME such exemplary companions. Thank you R!

Imagine that

You are the result of the love of thousands.
-Linda Hogan

The love of thousands
can a mind even embrace
such a thought? That love,

not just from obligatory blood,
not only of a few friends here
and there, but thousands.

Even just to be result,
outcome of sweetness
divine in magnitude

that the very life coursing
through our existence
is because of love

suddenly becoming
as us,
as me.


Heather Barron

Sock Monkey Love - my V-day gift from my nephew Gare-Bear

  
When

I say I,
I mean more
than this flesh
that walks around
calling herself by
a name. Somehow,
it’s as if
there are stars
involved, too, and
birds, of course,
and rivers. And
trees, fruit, rye,
and every infinite
shade of sky.

And when I
say love, it’s
a single syllable
trying to carry
the weight of
something weightless. That’s
no easy task.
I mean that
you are the
silence that links
every word to
every other word,
and you are
the song inside
my every hum.
That is wildly
insufficient.

And when I
say you, I
mean the vulnerable
you, the broken
you, the lost
you. I mean
the you when
you first wake
up and the
you when you
stub your toe.
And the shining
you, the funny
you, the you
who would cleanse
my eyes with
warm compresses when
I have pink
eye, the you
who is utterly
indefinable in three
word lines and
this attempt is
also wildly insufficient.
Is it any
wonder I kiss
you every chance
possible, oh you? 

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
http://ryezome.wordpress.com