Here are two love poems from some years ago. I have a lot of them! A lot has happened since I wrote them, but as I have said in verse, ‘love lasts for ever/ though lovers always part’. I am a romantic, and I find myself afloat in a sea of romance that is a bit like being slightly drunk.
The Ancient Poet In Love
1. Itching In The Heart
What do I feel? I feel fine, I said
What I feel is sleeplessness, lust, jealousy and self-pity –
Well, that’s part of it. There’s no fool
Like an old fool, is there?
I know all about this stuff, I said, yes,
Love sex and marriage, been there, done that!
Then I was going to be smart, one helluva fellow,
And they’d say, “Did you see him with that woman?
That lovely young woman? That old bugger!
He must have something we don’t have!”
But what happened? My mind said this is OK
You can help this person, and you like her a lot.
But my heart betrayed me, as I remember now
It’s done before. Disconnect the brain,
Throw out all rational thought.
It’s time to fall in love again, it said.
I wasn’t asked. Now once again I have to pray
To that Goddess I revere who represents
All women and all womanly power and wisdom,
To help me end that itching in the heart.
2. The Ancient Poet’s Reflections
You are so beautiful I just can’t understand
Why hordes of suitors and would-be lovers
Don’t make a fearsome barrier between us.
Surely you’re more than just a magic mirror
Reflecting what I want to see, me as a hero,
You as the grateful damsel in distress,
Me as a rescuing knight in shining armour,
You as the maiden being rescued from the dragon!
Oh yes, there’s more to it than that –
My need to be loved by women and to give love,
For instance, so strong at times that I’m
A hammer that hits my own thumb and hurts a lot.
© Malcolm Miller 1997-2013
Malcolm Miller's Poems 