Poems of Love

Everyone’s heart hopes for this

I love poetry. I’ve written my share of sappy, gooey, “unrequited-love-type” sagas over the years. (Former English teachers would’ve gone pale had they read them.) Should I be brave and edit/rewrite/share any here ? My instinct whispers it might be better to maintain the connections I’ve made here by withholding them. (Hear me laughing?) Until that imaginary shrouded future day, I share a poem by an extraordinary Irishman whose writings have touched me to my core.

What I share with you is one of my favorites by James Kavanaugh.

I wonder how many of us who write have reached the love they hope for. I’d enjoy hearing about your love in the comments, and how it has made your heart sing. Share if you might, reignite our hearts.

I have not yet reached mine. It’s a fact, and is neither sorrowful nor disappointing to me. It simply is. I have chosen to ‘speak with my feet’ (and walk away) from the imposters who so cleverly tried to wrap their chains around me. And because I remain steadfast in the life I choose to live, I know that this love is already on its way to me.

I lovingly share this with you. Enjoy

I Need to Know 
      By James Kavanaugh

I need to know I am loved
   Far beyond coffee in the morning and 
   a favorite meal. 
I need eyes looking at me as if there is 
   no other left on earth
   Words to tell me why I have been 
   chosen from all the rest. 
I need caresses, love notes, an arm 
   locked in mine,
   Fingers on my face, hands brushing 
   back my hair. 
I am strong only in my capacity to 
   endure pain,
   In my determination not to be 
   overwhelmed by shadows that appear 
   without permission and endure 
   without reason. 
I am strong in confronting the fears that 
   match each decade of my life,
   In not looking back with guilt and 
   regrets,
   In my persistent reassurance that all 
   my dreams will be realized. 
I am strong when it is essential to 
   someone that I live,
   Unthinkable that I die, unbearable that 
   I disappear,
A love that goes all out without 
   reservation or calculation, 
   A love of total trust and total loyalty,
A love that can last until I breathe my 
   last breath and gaze my last gaze - at 
   you,
When I am finally glad that I have lived
   Because I know how much I have been 
   loved