.
I’m Here
__Your smile, it hypnotizes.
It rises with the Inca doves and sun.
__Sleep done, your love surprises
And spices dawn with lush and precious fun.
__Your widened eyes are fashioned
In passion that I simply can’t dismiss.
__Insistent, blue and flashing
A brash and playful prelude to a kiss.
__Your words and music heat me,
Complete me with the wonders of your mind.
__Bind me to you, treat me
To sweetest odes and arias entwined.
__I know our spirits mirror.
It’s clearer every year and I am still
__So thrilled to have you nearer—
I’m here, I love you, and I always will.
.
.
Mike Bryant is a poet and retired plumber living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
What word for “beautiful” is best for this finely crafted valentine? I say it’s “personable”! Presents a faithful portrait of your lovebird, especially to us who already know her style which you take on. Lovely work for her and Saint Valentine!
Thanks, Margaret. I’ve had this poem hidden away for a few years and just reworked it.
Mike, this is neat and sweet. You plainly and ably appropriate Susan JB’s techniques, no mean feat, but have a style of your own. The contrasting but consistent paired line lengths (except “[and] treat me”) and minimizing of enjambment (emphatic periods rather than commas in 2-3 places) give the poem a sly and coy feel, and a decidedly dance-like one: do I hear a cha cha, or is it a tango?
Thanks, Julian. I’m not much of a dancer, so I’ll go with the tango.
Fabulous love poem! You are two very lucky people! Have a special day.
Russel, thanks… we did have a good day. We’ve been on vacation for over a week. It was a great break and we’re ready to reconnect with our muses…
As one of the many Bryant fans, I’m happy to hear that!
Mike, it’s nice to know that there are a few romantic oldies out there. This is a lovely tribute from one super poet to another. You pair are truly blessed with good luck and fortune. Susan and Mike, have a great, cuddly day out there in Texas.
Thanks Jeff. Did you survive Eunice? I know it was bad, but for a really bad storm in England you have to go back to 1703! Of course there have been many, many terrible storms since 1703.
https://www.fairfordhistory.org.uk/the-great-storm-1703/
The Great Storm of 1703 is said to have caused more damage than the London Fire, and that all took place before our modern sins. You better read the link quickly before it is consigned to the memory hole!
Mike, this is a charmer — a truly moving love poem — I especially like the phrase “odes and arias entwined.” With the form you’ve chosen (a nonce form?) think it would work beautifully if set to music. Then you could sing it and what a Valentine’s gift that would be for Susan!
Thank you Brian. That form was created by my lovely other half. She used it in ‘My Wicked Way With Words’ but what I couldn’t do was turn the whole thing into a conceit as Susan did.
I might actually be able to set it to a tune, but you wouldn’t want to hear me sing it. 🙂
Mike, this is a precious poem with romantic overtures. I know it is from the depths of your heart. Your valentine is fortunate to have someone with such feelings and expressive sentiments from the soul!
Thanks, Roy. I appreciate that.
Splendidly written, Mike! The way the internal rhymes weave together, joining the end of one line to the beginning of the next, is quite pleasing to the ear. And I love how the poem builds from the circumference to the center, with admiration for the smile and eyes, to the words and music, to the very spirit. How lovely!
Thanks, Anna… I, of course, stole the form from Susan.
Aw, this is so sweet and romantic, I love it! Happy Valentine’s Day to all you love birds.
Thanks, Yael. We just got back from Valentines… week.
This, Mike, might well be the most fully realized poem I have yet seen from you. Not one word of it is out of place, and there is nothing that needs to added.
Thank you C.B. Sometimes I get lucky. 😉
Your love poem is the genuine article. Very nicely done!
I appreciate ya, David.
What a perfect pair you are, and an inspiration to us all to be love birds!
Lovely poem.
Thank you Dame Sally! Always so lovely to hear from you.
This is truly beautiful x
Thank You, Mrs. Bryant.