#106 Loving someone means inventing a language together

On love languages

Oct 02, 2022

Dearest,

I attended the Femme Fridays’ poetry workshop, last Friday.

Femme Friday is a poetry circle for women that meets every week on Fridays.

We talk about poetry, chuckle like little girls, cry when a poem breaks our heart, and in the end, birth many poems together. It is therapeutic.

The theme for this week was Lover As Poetry. I wrote the following poem that I would love to share with you:

I invite you to create a list poem on your love language, dearest.

You could begin with ‘my love language is’, and then list out all the ways you show love or the ways you enjoy being loved.

And once you’re done, you are more than welcome to share your list with me. 😊

Some verses:

#1 Orange by Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It’s new. The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all my jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.

#2 Tomatoes by J. Sullivan

I waited so long for love
and suddenly, here it is
standing in the garden, hands full
of heirlooms hot from the sun.

Soon we’ll make a supper of them.
Salted slabs between slices of bread.
Your beard silvers. My hips ripen.
The mail piles up.

Phone calls go unanswered. Forgive us.
Our mouths are full of tomatoes.
We are so busy
being small and hungry and alive.

#3 Excerpt from Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay

And thank you, too. And thanks
for the corduroy couch I have put you on.
Put your feet up. Here’s a light blanket,
a pillow, dear one,
for I can feel this is going to be long.
I can’t stop
my gratitude, which includes, dear reader,
you, for staying here with me,
for moving your lips just so as I speak.
Here is a cup of tea. I have spooned honey into it.