How I Love You

this was inspired by a question my girl asks me from time to time. spoiler alert!!! if you are reading the book "odd thomas" this poem has a reference you may prefer not to know.

 

you ask me how i love you

and the shades flick behind your lips

like hungry ghosts.

 

my kiss isn't an answer so much

as preamble.

i run my fingers over familiar you

we speak in the language of memories,

texture and taste.

we listen with the quiet intuition of destiny.

you never accept less than my absolute self

and that is...

amazing to me.

i struggle with the complete devotion to

your beautiful view of who i am.

 

and

because of you i crane my neck

to catch the vulture

(or is it a hawk?)

above the freeway commute of every day.

because of you i chitter with squirrels

in the parking lot forest outside our apartment.

because of you my tongue paso dobles

with swirling spice skirts

that you choreograph into fantastic flavors.

you sketch out the twisty shapes of sentiment

paper profiles of your deeper dreams

see, your art is beautiful to me.

 

and i'll pretend not to listen

when you sing softly to tori

and the beatles

hoping that someday

i'll be worthy of your true voice.

waiting and writing

we revel in each other's words.

conversations philosophical,

political,

poetic, and personal

you allow alliteration to run amuck

among my amorous vocabulary.

 

and

i love you.

simply.

often without the flowery adjectives

i tend to break into bouquets

and top with tidy white cards

with heartfelt haikus.

 

you don't demand romance as much as truth.

 

god i love that.

the quirks

the quips

the quick laughs

and comfortable silences we share

every single day.

i even love our misunderstandings

and miscommunications

the way we come back to ourselves.

 

i take a breath and feel you

finger painting on the walls

of my heart.

you color me beautiful.

 

in a world sculpted by false profits

i treasure the glints unearthed in your eyes

the unique imperfections of you

that match the torn edges of my hands

and a smile,

a joyous blade

slicing me to the core

like innocence.

the sacred moments we shared

with tchaikovsky

getting stupid on weed

greiving for Stormy's surprising

demise

and a few other million memories

each a thread pull to the pattern

of us.

 

you ask me how i love you

and my answer remains

forever...

i do.

Reviews

[Sara Henry Heistand]

Oh, Raggy. :}

This has to be on my tippy top ten for most romantic pieces of free verse. It's beautiful and flows with reliance on cliches and common under/overtones. I can tell what the narrator feels is real and spilling over with depth. Your language is personal and modern - so much more heartfelt than "O how I adore thee" love poems. You nightingale, you. ;)

Favorited!

[April Child]

i take a breath and feel you
finger painting on the walls
of my heart.
you color me beautiful

This is wonderful. It reads true, an absolute declaration of honest love without all the schmaltz and is all the more touching for that. I am moved. Beautiful.

[Touché Armada]

i tend to break into bouquets

and top with tidy white cards

with heartfelt haikus.

What a beautiful romance you two must have, the sort of sweet that makes an onlooker blush with the honesty that's obviously there and for the world to see of how things should be. What a gem of a write.

[A.T.B.]

Ragtag,
A beautiful poem. You have poured in your heart and feelings and charged with emotion every line. A great testament to someone very special. I like it.