Personalized *Love* Poem

You might have noticed that this blog is no longer a “Personalized Wedding Poet’s Blog.” I’m expanding my personalized poetry business to include occasions beyond weddings.

Here is a love poem I wrote recently for a couple whose togetherness is inspirational.

 

 

Earth’s Elements

Hold my hand; remember our song.

Before Tennessee, we live together

in the palm of Michigan.

Our love, wide as the Atlantic,

spans farther than the tiny part

sweeping the shores of Myrtle Beach.

The air warms and cools these waters at once.

No, that’s wrong. It’s larger than that.

Our love rounds the earth, an equator.

Uncomplicated, we taste childhood’s milk and cookies.

In the beginning,

you sat across the table,

wrote on the receipt,

will you be my girlfriend? Check yes or no.

A fair test, the answer sure.

We settled in, home building in the small space between us:

everyday Black Love Day.

Now, spooning on this couch, thigh to thigh,

I tell you,

Honey, I love you always.

 

As Maya Angelou wrote,

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I add,

That’s us.

Read Full Post »

DIY Holiday Love Poem

Want to write your honey a poem for the holidays but you don’t know what to write about? A free writing brainstorming exercise will solve that problem.

 

Free writing exercises usually involve pen, paper, time and a writing prompt or two to get you started. The rules are simple. Find a quiet space and work for as long as you can. Even if you work on the poem for twenty minutes a day, you’ll have something soon enough.

 

Then, choose your own prompt or one below. Write, write, write for five to ten minutes. Do not stop writing, even if you suddenly feel empty of ideas. You can repeat the phrase, “I have nothing to write” until something comes to you. Don’t give spelling or grammar any mind.

 

Repeat this a few times. When you read over your work, take a pen and underline the phrases or ideas that are most interesting to you. You’ll find that you now have something to focus on in your writing.

 

Here are some prompts to get you started:

 

Describe a tradition the two of you have developed over the holidays.

What is your favorite food to eat together over the holidays?

How do you imagine future holidays together?

What is your favorite childhood memory from this time of year?

What has your love told you about holiday childhood memories?

 

You will probably find that you stray from the prompt. That’s ok – they are there to get you started.

 

After you have some underlined ideas from your free writing, choose one and focus on that idea. If you find that you aren’t sure where to take the idea, a good trick is to use the journalist’s questions to think of different angles (who, what, where, when, why and how.)

 

I guarantee that you’ll be happily surprised by all the ideas you’ve generated in just ten minutes of writing.

 

Advice:

Writing takes time, both to think about your ideas and to complete the writing, revising and editing processes. Give yourself that time by spreading out your work over a few days. Your brain will be working on your ideas when you are doing other things, even laundry and sleeping!

 

Feel free to use the comments section to add to this list of prompts. If you are looking for books with prompts and more suggestions, I would recommend Natalie Goldberg: http://www.nataliegoldberg.com/books.html. I particularly like her book Writing Down the Bones.

 

I’d love to read your poems and offer feedback. You are welcome to post them here or email them to me: ChloeMiller(at)gmail(dot)com.

Read Full Post »