If you are a long time follower of my blog, then you know that today is one of my favorite holidays and you know that I share poetry, as well as art and more (sometimes).

Happy Valentine’s day!  I used to hate this holiday, but after many years of grumbling, I decided to make the day my own.  Now, it’s honestly my favorite holiday (and the only day of the year I get to wear my cupid cow earrings!).  Why? How? If you’re curious where the tradition started, you can read about it here on an older blog of mine.  If you enjoy the poems and want to read more, you can find them in the blog filters under “Valentine’s Day poems.”  This year I have 5 poems of others’ to share and 1 of my own. AND some cute punny Valentine’s day coloring pages I used with my class this last week. Oh! And the postcard I made using prompts from Mirka Hokkanen’s Kidlitillo challenge.

This year I share a song from the live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon (that really struck me), a poem by Rita Dove and another by Carol Ann Duffy (that I find interesting side-by-side comparisons), one by Pablo Neruda that has a bit more hunger to it, and one I discovered in Kwame Alexander’s collection of contemporary black poets, This is the Honey.  All had different bits that all resonated with me and a theme of “home” this year.  And one by me that I randomly found in my desk drawer written almost 10 years ago (polished up for this post).  Enjoy!

 

Now on to the poems!

“You Are My Homeward” composed by John Powell, with lyrics co-written by Powell and director Dean DeBlois (at end credits of “How to Train Your Dragon” live action remake 2025)

Luck, how she favors me
Through cold and stormy seas
To reach such wond’rous sights
I travel always forward ho
Where the dragons play
No harm shall come our way
We sail for another day
Fare thee well, for you are my homeward

Love you shall always be
The loving arms for me
No treasure can compare
No hardships make me falter yet
Do not shed a tear
Bid me farewell my dear
Fear not for my heart lies here
I return for you are my homeward
You are bringing me homеward
You are bringing me home!

 

Heart to Heart  by Rita Dove

It’s neither red
nor sweet.

It doesn’t melt
or turn over,
break or harden,
so it can’t feel
pain,
yearning,
regret.

It doesn’t have 
a tip to spin on,
it isn’t even
shapely—
just a thick clutch
of muscle,
lopsided,
mute. Still,
I feel it inside
its cage sounding
a dull tattoo:
I want, I want—

but I can’t open it:
there’s no key.
I can’t wear it
on my sleeve,
or tell you from
the bottom of it
how I feel. Here,
it’s all yours, now—
but you’ll have
to take me,
too.

 

Valentine  by Carol Ann Duffy

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

 

Love Sonnet XI by Pablo Neruda

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

 

On the Cusp  by me

 

We are on the cusp

of the sunset,

watching the sky

rainbow into shades

as soft as blankets.

Dreams begin to mingle

with the sea of night

as stars slowly blink

and open their eyes.

This is the magic hour

where you and I

become we.

Hand in hand,

we slide effortlessly

into the unknown future.