Love Poems: A Miniature Anthology
Caty Childress, Editor
I am not your love.
by Claire McConnell
You do not love me;
Simply out- looking in.
I know you like what you see;
And all that could have been but
I see the world upside down.
2D is just so deep.
Nothing else exists within these bounds.
Textures render me to sleep.
Can you see that screeching?
RED, GREEN, BLUE.
Can you hear that reaching?
I LOVE YOU.
I peer through the hole and see you watching closely.
CLOSELY. YOU ARE SMILING.
I don’t know why, BUT I SMILE BACK.
AH- I can feel my memories filing.
I will always be here, right where you left me.
I will gorge my soul and feel thickly thin.
I will try to be who you want me to be.
I will never win...
In a sea full of discrepancies
I will be a buoy in your storm;
Bobbing and nodding you to land
With words to keep you warm, but
I am not your love.
Beep,
Beep,
Beep,
System failure.
Love is like Wind, and It’s the Doldrums
by Theodore O’Harra
Love passes through you like a gust of wind
It rustles your hair and ripples your clothes
But when it's gone
your hair is still messy
your clothes are still creased
So love stays with you
And there is wind still around us
Spinning like a twine caught in a kitchen mixer
Vicious and chaotic
But you
You aren’t the batter, you’re not in the bowl
You're looking down
And making pancakes
And there only for you
And there’s no strawberries, nor syrup
Nor a sugar or honey in reach
It’s called the doldrums
Dull drums
Dull dumb dumb dumb
There isn’t wind
There isn’t even a mixer
All is calm
And you’re in the middle
And love has passed like a gust of wind
And it rustled your hair and rippled your clothes
But now it’s gone
And your hair is a mess
And your clothes have got creases
And so, then you know
Love stays with you.
Even in the dull dumb doldrums.
Henrietta Blue
by Laura Sheikh
Her name was Henrietta Blue—
though that wasn’t all true.
When she first came into the world,
She was known as Henrietta Lou.
Henrietta Lou had a hole in her heart,
And she knew she needed something,
To fill it in,
…to fill it up.
Only…
Where to begin?
Where to start?
While it may have been half-empty,
I guarantee you
No one ever knew,
Anyone with a heart so kind and true
As our dearest, darling, Henrietta Lou.
Everywhere she went, she waved and said
“Hello! howdy-doo?”
But instead of waving back,
The world only seemed to walk right through.
She knew not what to do.
And thought—perhaps, she’d just turn away too.
But there was no escape.
Everywhere she went—
She saw anger and pain,
Streets full of disdain.
Division and vitriol,
Turned into societal ritual.
She thought it was normal to push and shove,
And for no one to understand what it meant to love.
And bit by bit,
The hole in her heart,
It began to fill in.
And though it may have grew,
That hole had only been imbued
Full of grisly gunk and goo.
Her heart overflowed,
And hate ran through her veins.
She was never quite the same,
Forever sorrow-stained.
Over time, her shoulders slumped,
Her laughter soon became defunct.
Her smile faded,
All happiness completely degraded.
Wherever she walked
she kicked up a cloud of dejection and dust.
Lost from herself, and faded from view,
All that was left…was Henrietta Blue.
