You don't need to be down in the dumps, feeling sentimental, or celebrating Valentine's Day (or Galentine's Day, for that matter) to enjoy some mushy goodness. With all the battering our psyches take in a given day (hello, news cycle), taking the time to exfoliate our hearts is important. To run with that metaphor, no one — not even the savviest politico — wants a giant callus in the center of their chest.

Personally, I can admit to not indulging enough in sentimental, mushy goodness. Maybe it's the '90s girl in me, but I have an awful tendency to distrust the sweet, the lovey-dovey, the nice. And while I totally get a critical backlash against all things saccharine, one cannot be critical all one's life, lest one wants to succumb to a joyless existence.

Enter these eight poems, sure to get you feeling ooey-gooey mushtastic. They're sweet, kinda romantic, definitely happy-making. I literally dare you to read these poems without sighing or melting inside. What to do once you've finished? Now that you feel refreshed and hopeful and maybe wistful, pass these poems along. That serious friend who needs to let their frozen heart thaw the heck out? Consider these lines the perfect prescription.