Love Made Me

Love made me shy when I wanted to sing

like bird song sonata with golden hue.

Love made me soar on the happiest wing

on grand sails of splendor through sapphire blue.

Love made me bliss like a new morning flame

like fingertips touching the hand of day.

Love made me bloom when you whispered my name

pressing my petals in pleasure to lay.

Love made me reflect upon every word

like a willow with sleeves in the river.

Love made me listen and listening heard

light strings of rain that made the leaves shiver.

Love made me fall like the folds of a gown

or the unbraiding of Rapunzel’s hair.

Love made me soft as a feather in down

or the sound of silence when snow falls fair.

Love made me spill all my secrets to tell

like the rapids of a waterfall vein.

Love made me blush like a rose in the dell

plucked by the wind in a zither of rain.

Love made me cling like a moth to the moon

or bottle-green moss in a forest square.

Love made me sweet as a meadow in June

whose fragrant flowers are scenting the air.

Love made me more than I thought I could be

and made me wish I was perfect for you.

Love made me silk like the silk of the sea

whose dreaming dampness was channeled for two.

Love made me drown in a backwash of tears

as if a thundercloud burst in my breast.

Love made me shoulder its shadow for years

like Atlas holding the sky in the west.

Love made me leave when I wanted to stay,

and my heart hemorrhaged on blades of grass.

Love made me waver as I crawled away,

and your silence shattered like shards of glass.

Love made me curl into bittersweet cry

like autumn leaves huddled in patchwork heaps.

Love made me still, with a yearning to fly,

like a child dreaming whenever she sleeps.

Love made me whole, and it made me divine.

Love encased butterflies within my heart.

Love made me weak; yet, it strengthened my spine

when the harvest moon dimmed its light to part.

Love made me turn for a moment undone,

halting in the hope of a sign from you.

Love made me numb as you set for the sun

knowing the sun would soon set in me too.

Love made me new as a garden in spring

or a river-washed range of desert sky.

Love made me a pen, whose point is to sing,

to tug loose the tears that wade in the eye.

Love made me a cloud to rain in my soul,

to drink in the ink of the ocean’s swell.

Love made me a petal and petiole

to rise in glory before glory fell.

Author's Note

Reviews

[William Liston]

This is so beautiful. As always, your words flow with such grace and wonder that I find it hard to believe that any human being could compose it ... it seems to have fallen from the heavens.
The way you illustrate the varius shades of love, its tender moments, its passionate moments, how it gives one courage, how it can tear one apart, how it endures ... is so vivid and enthralling that while reading, I found myself holding my chest. This may be my favorite of yours for (to me) it epitomizes your style - the poignant delicacy in your expressions, the abstract beauty of your descriptions, the sheer wonder and openness of your imagery, the etheral nuances that bleed through your every line ... I could go on and on.
The lines that especially struck me in this piece (though all of them were brilliant) had to be:

"Love made me a pen, whose point is to sing,
to tug loose the tears that wade in the eye."

Excellent work!

- William Liston

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Dear William,

Thank you for taking the time to not only read the poem but for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful, insightful, and beautiful review. I really appreciate the feedback from such an accomplished writer as yourself.

Linda Marie

[Phill Oz O'fee]

Love is, and will always be a remarkable force that pushes us forward toward our destiny. An entity we cannot physically taste, touch, or smell, but are predestined to experience it, live it, embrace it, despise it, run from it, but love it all the same. Yours is a fantastically penned piece of sheer brilliance! :-)

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Linda Marie... your words have entangled my heart with ecstacy unparalleled... a glass of Petiole Pinot noir... a toast to love's destiny ...
and endless rapture ... truly, Pat

[Corset]

so gorgeous, every bit of it glorious like love, it is all these things so beautifully described, IMHO, loved it

[Richard🖌]

Ah, Linda Marie,
This is sheer poetic perfection and enthrallment in composition, picture, and musical score!
And, for once, I am stunned almost speechless....left uncertain of what just happened.
I loved, enjoyed, and felt every aspect of your thoughts, feelings, and emotions, as each swept up off the page, and every word, line, and verse without a wasted letter or hitch in flow, and your syntax and metaphoric choices are simply spellbindingly superb.
I really cannot pick anything to highlight over the other … it's simply put, "that perfect and balanced". And, though, thematically faithful to "Love" throughout in every aspect, each verse is a wondrously soul-fetching, standalone poem in itself!
Having read through it several times, each deepening and building vision, feeling, touch, emotion, you name it, one layer upon the other became more a part of my senses and awareness …
no one breathes life into words the way you do.

Lest I wear out my welcome, please, let me offer my most humble, sincerely thunderstruck thanks for sharing your most incomparably amazing gift, Linda Marie ⁓ Love, Richard : )

"Love made me a petal and petiole
to rise in glory, before glory fell." misted my eyes and heart.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Richard. As you were aware of the impending composition based upon the title alone, I'm glad that the content did not disappoint. Love made me write this poem, and I thought it was never going to end. :-)

God bless you for your enthusiasm and appreciation, as your words surely bless me.

Linda Marie

[Richard🖌]

You are warmly welcome, Linda Marie,
Such words of blessing ~ you've always inspired from my grateful heart. : )

[.]

Very, very well done.

I love the form and structure; disciplined with lush visual imagery and wonderful flowing rhyme.

Your piece flows through the full gamut of emotions of love, from the sweet tenderness at it's first touch, to the melancholic spiral at it's loss.

Certainly one of the better pieces of poetry i have encountered on this site. Congrats.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Doodley, for reading and reviewing. I appreciate the feedback.

[Stella Armour]

Just beautiful, and so many lovely lines with imagery that it is hard to choose a favourite.. i did like " Love made me blush like a rose in the dell
plucked by the wind in a zither of rain." very much indeed. well done , rhyme, flow and rhythm all perfect for me :)

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Stella. :-)