PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Once we say ‘I love you’ to someone…once that feeling is spoken or expressed in pencil or pen…what is it that makes us keep repeating ‘I love you’ over and over again?

Perhaps it’s because ‘I love you’ are the first words we remember…meant to wash away worry and fear…when our mother placed her head next to ours and whispered ‘I love you’ into our ear.

Perhaps we keep saying the words ‘I love you’ so we can linger in their echo for a while…remembering the comfort we feel every time we hear them…how those words always accompany a smile.

Perhaps repeating ‘I love you’ is one way to recapture the feeling in our heart…

the first time we heard…or read them…

perhaps it’s one way to revisit the feeling the first time we actually said them.

Perhaps, because we have no way of knowing if we will still be here…

the next moment

the next day

the next year

we want ‘I love you’ not only to be the last words we say…

but the last words our loved ones will hear.

Or could it be when we say ‘I love you’ we’re hoping an ‘I love you’ we’ll retrieve….

knowing as beautiful as the words ‘I love you’ are to give…

they are equally as beautiful to receive.

How wonderful we have so many ways to say ‘I love you’…many ways for “I love you’ to repeat…we can say them, write them, paint them, nowadays we can text and we can tweet.

We can sing them…we can yell them out…we can say them fast…or slow

but I imagine the best way to say ‘I love you’ is one we learned from our mothers…long ago.

It’s the ‘I love you’ meant to wash away worry…

to alleviate any fear…

It’s when we hold someone tight 

place our head close to theirs 

and whisper ‘I love you’ in their ear.

I think it is quite obvious in this world we’re trying to create how many have forgotten the delicate relationship that exists between love…and hate.

I believe our creators created us for one reason…that reason is to love…

and I think we’ve moved quite far away from the world they were thinking of.

A world where we love ourselves and realize how every person is our sister and our brother…how, if we are to survive…to thrive…we need to love each other.

Because when love is not cherished…when it’s not nourished…before it is too late…

love not only dies…but can easily turn to hate.

And once love has changed to hate and a heart is filled with pain…

hate does not change so easily back to love again.

For once its roots take hold after the seeds of hate are sown…

hate will use every weapon in its arsenal before relinquishing its throne.

Love knows it is more powerful…that she has the will…the strength…the might…

but, being love, she wants to love…and has been reluctant to engage hate in this fight.

Love has said…be patient…love will win out in the end…we know!

and all the while, as love waits, hate grows and grows and grows.

Looking at the world hate’s created…I think love can no longer wait…

It’s time for love to fight…to join the battle against hate.

For now that hate has its knee firmly pinned against love’s throat…

it’s time to fight with every weapon in love’s arsenal…

including our voices and our votes.

It’s time to be a love warrior…to stand up unafraid…strap on our boots…

and attack hate where it is most vulnerable…by cutting off its roots.

There is one problem, and love knows this, when love warriors fight to redirect their fate…that somewhere in this fight…we too…may begin to hate.

But if we are ever going to have a say in the world we’re trying to make…

this is a road that must be traveled…

this a risk we all must take.

People often ask the old couple, who’ve been married for so long, 

What’s the secret to your marriage…the key that’s made it last so long?

The couple look at one another…then with a gleam reflected in their eyes…

They smile, take a deep breath and out pop their replies:

Everyone must find their own paths to happiness once they accept their wedding rings…but, for us, the secret is quite simple…it lies in all the little things.

It’s not only listening when the other person talks…it’s hearing what they have to say.

It’s a note that says ‘I love you’ at the end of a long day.

It’s a little gift that’s given when there’s no reason for a gift…

just to say ‘I’m thinking about you” and to give your day a lift.

It’s a drive out in the country at some random time on some random day…

and stopping by a random stream for a picnic along the way.

It’s reaching something on the top shelf when your short wife is unable…

It’s anytime our family gathers around our dining room table.

It’s sharing our deepest fears…our long range goals…all our hopes and wishes…

while one person does the cooking and the other does the dishes.

It’s a surprise call in the middle of the day just to hear the other’s voice…

It’s being together during sad times…and times when we rejoice.

It’s watching the sunrise hand-in-hand and thinking about the day we met…

It’s still holding hands in the evening while watching the sun set.

They never know what answers will pop out…what simple things they’ll name

but the last words out of their mouths have always been the same.

The secret for us has been living with someone we adore…and all the joy that brings….

joys we are blessed to discover every day…

in all the little things.

He gently touched his cheek to hers…

at a time when sadness interrupted their nights

and spread throughout their days…

and the moment their tears blended into one…

as if by magic…

so did they.

Her wedding vows were simple, heartfelt and concise…

“If love is the bread of life,” she said, 

“I promise all my love with every slice.

A smile crossed his face and tears welled in his eyes.

He could not hide his happiness…

his contentment…

his surprise.

For he knew in their life together…

in their future…

whatever comes…

He would have been just as happy…

living off the crumbs.

“When did you fall in love with me?” she asked

He smiled then affectionately insisted

“It’s when I saw within your eyes 

so many colors

I never knew existed”.

He didn’t have fame or fortune.

He wasn’t interested in the climb.

He was always going on and on about love

and he was happy...all the time.

When it came my turn to say goodbye

I was angry.

I was sad.

I rested my head upon his chest...

for love was all I had.

“I wish I had more to offer you,” I said,

“before you go away,

something more that I can give you

something more that I can say.”

With what little strength he had left

he took my hand in his.

“You’ve given me love and not only is that important,” he said,

“It’s the only thing that is.”

I used to wish for fame and fortune

but that was just a whim.

Now I wish for a life filled with love...

and to be happy...

just like him.

They’ve been blessed with a wonderful life…with a love resilient and strong…

but all her life it has been her wish to write him a love song.

To let him know in her life he’s played a vital part…to be able to put into music and rhyme…what she’s felt within her heart.

She’s tried…oh how she’s tried….perhaps over a thousand times…

but the music never found its way out of her heart and she never found the rhymes.

She’s given him many a love note…cards with messages…short and long…

but secretly she had always dreamed of writhing that love song.

She never told him about her wish…how the music and the rhymes wouldn’t flow…

but in her last note…before he died…she finally let him know.

The card read simply:

I’ve always wanted to write you a love song…so you could hear and see…

in the music and the lyrics…all you’ve meant to me.

I’ve always wanted to write you a love song…with a melody as beautiful as the birds…I’ve always wanted to write you a love song…but I could never rhyme my words.

I’ve always wanted to write you a love song…every birthday…every anniversary…

but this is as close as I’ve ever come…and she signed the card…Love, me.

He smiled as he closed the card…and held it to his chest

realizing, as he always had…how in life he has been blessed.

Oh, but you have been writing me a love song, he said…

a tune more beautiful than the birds…

the whole time we’ve been together…with your actions and your words..

You have written me a love song…every minute of every day…

I see it in everything you do…I hear it in everything you say…

He held her hands…and when their eyes met…

when it came to that love song…no longer was she sad…

she went from wanting to write him a love song

to realizing…she already had.

“Hold Momma’s hand.” She said as they entered the store. “Stay as close to me as you can.” Momma was carrying her by the time they left when she said, “Say bye-bye to the man.”

As I watched them leave…I paused a moment…my imagination stirred…

I wondered how many times we say I love you…but I love you in other words.

How many times a minute, a day, a week, a month a year…do we use other words to say I love you…out loud…or whispered in an ear?

So I decided to take an entire day and add up the I love you in other words amount…and I am happy to report…how quickly I lost count.

Left and right…everywhere I looked…it was like a scene out of The Birds…people saying I love you…but I love you in other words.

You can do it…welcome home…I’m glad you’re hear…sleep tight…

I know you’re hurting but I’m here now…everything will be all right.

On and on they kept coming…as if they were raining down from the clouds above…

Who knew there were so many other ways to say it…so many other words for love.

If my counting wasn’t difficult enough…I hit another snag…wouldn’t you know it!

For not only are there a million ways to say I love you…there are a million ways to show it.

A touch…a kiss…holding hands…candy…flowers…a gift as a surprise…and if you look closely…how often you will see love reflected in the eyes.

I realized trying to count all the different forms of love around me was too difficult a campaign…it’s like standing in a downpour trying to counts each drop of rain…

Needless to say I stopped counting…it was obvious…it was an immeasurable amount

besides…when it comes to all the different ways we say I love you…

it’s more fun to watch…than it is to count.