Valentines Day Poetry Bonus
Who doesn't need a little Louise in their lives?
So, an extremely nerdy and very awesome thing I did recently is join the Discord server for Jeanna Kadlec’s amazing Astrology for Writers - basically the most Tania-targeted Substack in creation. Today we were prompted to share some of our favorite creative work about love - whether it be romantic, platonic, familial, etc.
So, of course, this lead me into the realm of poetry. And I thought it would be nice to share my selections with you all, my very beloved readers, as a quick little bonus post, since I did something similar last year.
This year I’m going the Louise Glück route.
If you’ve never heard me wax endlessly about Louise (yes, we are on a first name basis), she is basically my North Star poet. One of my absolute all-time favorite writers in any genre or format. Hers was one of the only “celebrity” deaths that I felt in my bones - I remember exactly where I was at the time I read about it (on the couch of a vacation house in Cape Cod).
Anyway, here are two that deal with the topic of love.
The Red Poppy
The great thing
is not having
a mind. Feelings:
oh, I have those; they
govern me. I have
a lord in heaven
called the sun, and open
for him, showing him
the fire of my own heart, fire
like his presence.
What could such glory be
if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters,
were you like me once, long ago,
before you were human? Did you
permit yourselves
to open once, who would never
open again? Because in truth
I am speaking now
the way you do. I speak
because I am shattered.Circe's Torment
I regret bitterly
the years of loving you in both
your presence and absence, regret
the law, the vocation
that forbid me to keep you, the sea
a sheet of glass, the sun-bleached
beauty of the Greek ships: how
could I have power if
I had no wish
to transform you: as
you loved my body,
as you found there
passion we held above
all other gifts, in that single moment
over honor and hope, over
loyalty, in the name of that bond
I refuse you
such feeling for your wife
as will let you
rest with her, I refuse you
sleep again
if I cannot have you.Goodnight, lovers.