If you're a fan of Valentine's Day you know that more than half the fun of the occasion is the prep. Whether you're shopping for a special outfit — or a special something to wear under that outfit — planning an on-point date night menu, or crafting the best playlist ever, you know that what Jackie Kennedy once said is true: "It takes an awful lot of effort to make everything look effortless." But if you're looking for one more way to nail this Valentine's Day, it's time you change the game and give your sweetie a love poem.
Okay, sure, you can write it. But you're still going to have to recite it.
Yes, there are plenty of ways to impress your valentine. And while soufflé or a lover's bower of an AirBnB are nice, they don't involve the blood, sweat, and tears that a good poetry recitation does. (It's not getting any easier to memorize things!) Learning a poem and sharing it with your date is an intimate and vulnerable act, one that's sure to be unforgettable.
Worried about stumbling? Don't be. These nine poems are totally learnable, and you're guaranteed to win the heart of any bookworm — or romantic, for that matter.
1"Plex" by Lisa Robertson
Now admire their breadth
Every flower is inverted
And what the flower produces
Is unknown
You call this beauty
As a way to express care
Now call it wildrose
2"Love's Body" by Jonathan Wells
Love gives all its reasons
as if they were terms for peace.
Love is this but not that
that but not this.
Love as it always was.
Click here to read.
3"Our Happiness" by Eileen Myles
we sat on a stoop
one day in the
late afternoon
we had very little
money. enough for
a strong cappuccino
which we shared
sitting there & suddenly the
city was lit.
4"Ditty" by Kevin Young
5"This Much and More" by Dijuna Barnes
6"Let's Put It To Music" by Johnny Cash
How do you feel about me
Now that you've learned to know me?
Why don't we both admit
That something is happening.
7"El Beso" by Angelina Weld Grimké
The gloom of your hair;
Lure of you, eye and lip;
Yearning, yearning,
Languor, surrender;
Your mouth
8"Alone" by Jack Gilbert
She cares nothing about
the mystery. She likes it best when
I touch her head and tell her small
things about my days and our friends.
9"[love is more thicker than forget]" by ee cummings
love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail
