never write a poem about love!

[sallystrothers]

that was what my literature professor always said anyways and look at me now! Writing about love ....




Of all things,
greatest of these is love.



I have seen the extend of the world, the place where man’s glory

is consumed in open flames,

and the emancipated rays bend onward through eternity.



For it was Him who first loved us.

Love it was, like the double

edged sword penetrating the heart to

the division of joy through sorrow.



Upon a single strand of hair stretching the breadth

of the deep canyon she walks.

Her balance at the mercy of rustling

wind, yet there is hope.



In hope lies life, and in life therein everlasting life…



…a gift of pearls cast before swine



I know of a place hidden from foolishness,

a place where dead speak to living

a place where the living speak truth upon the dead



death -- the absence of love in all these things.

Righteous possessions that become whitewashed tombs sacred

to our children



Love is His palette



From where The Artist dips the brush tip

in the dark faceless waters

paints two lives,

and then strokes them into one.

 

[artybloke]

that was what my literature professor always said anyways and look at me now! Writing about love ....

I can understand your professor's point of view: love poetry is the source for so many cliches in poetry... "Love" is a big theme for such a little thing as a poem to bear, and a lot of poems collapse under the weight of it.

Your poem takes a lot of its language straight from the Bible; is there any way you use images that are more individual and personal to you? I guess, for me, there's a lot too much generalisation here: what does "the division of joy through sorrow" mean in physical/real terms?

Also, I think the imagery is scatter-shot: it may be better to have one central idea round which everything revolves, rather that try to encapsulate the whole of "love" in one poem. I see this a lot, by the way: people take big themes like "love" and try to capture the whole thing in one go. Maybe think of a particular situation of love and write about that than try to do everything at once. And make it true to your life.

 

[Lycana]

Love your poem! Just beautiful!