This post was written by Amritha Jayasankar
Express your love with a poem!
Valentine's Day has come and gone, but why let the love stop there? Besides romantic love, we have love for people, places, passions, and experiences that have shaped us into who we are. Make a list of things and people you love, whether it is a hobby, a passion, an experience, a friend or mentor, a family member, or anything else that comes to mind. Then, let's celebrate that love and put it into words. In your poem, describe that thing you love, how it makes you feel, what you learned, and how it has effected you.
You can try free verse, or in a letter form, like the late Kobe Bryant's powerful poem, Dear Basketball.
In this poem, he expresses his love and gratitude for the game and acknowledges how much time, sacrifice, and passion he gave to it. In this poetic and personal way, he announced his retirement from basketball in 2015.
Here is an excerpt from the heartfelt poem:
" I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel."
Source: The Players Tribune
The poem is a great way to express something or someone that you love and appreciating the powerful impact it has had on your life!
Here is an excerpt from another wonderful example: Aimless Love by Billy Collins
"This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.
The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.
No lust, no slam of the door-
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida."
Poetry at SJPL
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