"Love" by Roy Croft

The number 831 is a texting encryption of "I love you": 8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning. Never encrypt or abbreviate your love. Here is a long poem by Roy Croft on love.


LOVE

I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.


Source: The Best Loved Poems of the American People (1936), selected by Hazel Felleman

Love is a word formerly used in communications

to represent the letter L.

"'88' Poems" by Richard Brautigan

On this day in 1952, according to the Associated Press, "the composition 4'33" ('Four Minutes, Thirty-three Seconds') by avant-garde composer John Cage premiered in Woodstock, New York, as David Tudor sat down at a piano and, for four minutes and 33 seconds, played . . . nothing."

Here is a blank poem by Richard Brautigan that first appeared in his poetry collection Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt (1970).


"88" POEMS

Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)

To read a biography of Richard Brautigan, click here.

A poem by Emily Dickinson about a bee and a clover

Here is a short, untitled poem by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) about a bee and a clover. This poem is in the public domain. It was first published in 1896.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Emily Dickinson

American poet

"The Icehouse in Summer" by Howard Nemerov : The Poetry Foundation

"And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end," saith the Lord.  -- The Bible: Amos 3:15 (King James Version)

To read the poem "The Icehouse in Summer" by Howard Nemerov and to listen to an audio recording of Mr. Nemerov reading that poem of his, click here.

Howard Nemerov (1920-1991)

American poet 

"The Symbolic Life" by Hayan Charara : Poets.org

About his new poem "The Symbolic Life" (2017) Arab-American poet Hayan Charara says, "Apparently, ladybugs will enter houses in cold weather seeking warmth, and though they appear dead, they are hibernating. Sometimes, of course, they are just dead."

To read "The Symbolic Life" by Hayan Charara (born 1972), and to listen to an audio recording of him reading that new poem of his, click here.

"Father Son Haiku" by Kelvin River | Rattle: Poetry

When asked why he likes to write poetry, ten-year-old Kelvin River replied that he wrote his poem "Father Son Haiku" for his fifth grade homework assignment. He said that he likes "making stuff, and using words to make stuff is really interesting and fun." To read "Father Son Haiku" by Kelvin River (age 10), click here.