Shari's Telling Stories

I listened to the lovely rendition
sung by Ella Fitzgerald
Live in Holland.
And I’m reminded
it’s love year round
that hangs me up the most.

Reaching for a poem of love, or not,
I’m brought to a grinding halt because
“love” entreats me to think of romance
at which I’m worse than retarded.

So bad am I until
I can’t even give you
a love sucks poem.
Because,
as elusive as it all is to me
as infrequently as it visits me
in my quietest moments
I still hope to come into it.
Then I can write about
the happy circumstance of it.

I once wrote a poem entitled Mine
by request for a wedding.
If you knew the days and hours
spent sweating to find it,
you’d probably suggest I skip this
or talk about puppies or relatives instead.

But, alas I can’t as
I’m intrigued by my personal challenge.
Besides, from time to time
it’s good to know where I stand
with romantic language.

And unfortunately I see
I’m still not where I want to be yet.

Poem ©2009 Shari Lynne Smothers.

Prompt: Write a love poem, or an anti-love poem. My submission for Day 10 of the November PAD Chapbook Challenge 2009.

Notes

• The video is posted at YouTube by bintangtheater1.
• Over at my other site, Blog About It, poetry on demand describes the effort to finding poems when it’s difficult.
• Mine is the wedding poem.