Love Poems!

The amazing Brittany Cavallaro was kind enough to invite me to share my favorite love poem at Flavorwire.  Check it out!  You can also read the favorite love poems of some of my favorite poets: Rebecca Hazelton, Jacques Rancourt, Nancy Reddy, DA Powell, Darcie Dennigan, and more!  

While I discuss the poem "To You," by Kenneth Koch, I have to admit it's not my absolute favorite love poem.  It's one that I admire, that does all the things I say it does in my discussion of the poem, that makes me happy for love, and that I felt I could actually talk about a little.  So, my absolute favorite love poem?  There are many that blow my mind, but "Antique," by Robert Pinsky makes me feel like I might die from love.  I planned to mention it for the Flavorwire favorites, but I couldn't think of anything to say about it that wouldn't detract from it.  You can read the poem here.

I heard Pinsky read the poem once, but didn't catch the title.  I could only remember the line, "Someone who buys this picture of you for the frame..."  Then, he came to read a few months later at  UMass-Boston, where the crowd was much smaller.  Afterwards, I bought his book and asked if the poem with that line was in the book, and he opened right to the page, put the dust jacket into the page to mark it for me, and recited the poem from memory.  My whole heart jumped.  My knees were seriously weak (somehow I thought that was a cliche metaphor, but it turns out it's something that happens in real life).  When he was through, I actually said: "I'm going to try to walk away now." And I took my book and tried to walk out the door without falling over.

What an embarrassing story!  Happy Valentine's Day!