Listicle
LISTICLE Looking for Love Poems? Here Are 14 Modern Classics
KELSEY BRYAN-ZWICK
Erato is one of nine poetry muses, each dedicated to different genres of poetry, but I would claim poetry would be nothing without Erato. And I will say the same about love: there is no love without poetry. The juicy emotions, the spicy feelings, the universal pull keeps love on the tongues and finger tips of poets throughout time. And as much as love may be ever-enduring, it is also something we need to constantly express–a feeling we engage with viscerally to keep it fresh in our hearts and minds.
That being said there are all kinds of love, and we wanted to bring you a list as varied and wild as love itself. In this article we’ll take a look at love poems that explore the love that keeps us up at night, the love that gets us out of bed, the love we lost, the love we gained, the love from mothers and even…trees. These poems get into all the parts and fluids and squishy bits that makes love such a hot and juicy topic, so grab a drink, and let's get into it as these poets spill the tea.
LISTICLE 10 Contemporary Love Poems
GINGER AYLA
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?… No?
Okay, fair enough. We’ve all had cliche love poems and imagery flung at us from every corner since we got old enough to make a Valentine’s Day card out of construction paper.
As poets, we get to a place where we’ve heard the classics too many times, and Neruda and Cummings lose their power. There’s a time and place for classic love poetry (weddings, for example) but as a writing poet looking to explore daring work that tackles its subject matter in new and inventive ways, it’s not doing a lot for me.
And let’s face it: writing non-cliche love poetry is hard, even if you’re an expert at being in love. Contemporary love poems need to find a way to situate the reader in how it feels to be in love, one of the most common and overwritten human experiences, while still finding a way to be unique.