All About Love - 15 Love Poems You Should Read This Valentine’s Day
Hello Empty Inkwell-ers! From our family to yours, we are wishing you a happy Lunar New Year, February, and Valentines Day <3
As writers, it is natural for us to be drawn to that which is disturbing in this world. After all, we are quick to judge BookTok rom-coms for their lack of literary quality, or to opt for a depressing poetry collection over a Jane Austen book as a beach read. We often think of love as an indulgence, an occasional dance-in-the-dark pleasure that distracts us from the more serious or academic subjects of the world. However, if there can be such value in a (dare I say) ridiculously long poem about birds (see The Raven), it is time that we insist upon the value of the love poem.
Two summers ago in Western Massachusetts, I read a line from Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried which has stuck with me ever since: “It wasn’t a war story, it was a love story”. For months after (and sometimes even now), I would respond to my two co-founders' text messages with those words no matter the context. Months and months later, I still find this quote the perfect philosophy– and, like life, while there is cold and stress and insecurity in winter, there is still love. A whole day of it (and probably dozens more). While we frown upon the love poem, we neglect to recognize that love is an innate quality, thus rendering essentially every piece of literature related to or on the subject of love.
Remember, the heart can exist in millions of capacities, making it not only accessible, but a fundamental necessity. While you may be thinking there is little to love or be loved by in this world, we all must remember that if there is not family there are friends to stargaze and scream Bowie into the dark with; if there are not friends there is an orange like a sun; and if there are no oranges, no Bowie, and no shooting stars, there is still a Pilot G2 black pen, full of ink, waiting to be emptied.
It is important now, maybe more than ever, to remember that love is still a subject of substance; perhaps more than any other I have encountered. After all, who would Plath be without her mad girl’s love song, Dickenson without “that love is all there is, is all we know of love”, Homer without Achilles’ sacrifice? Much like in Richard Siken’s poem “You Are Jeff”, the world will not always tell you that it loves you, but it loves you. With that being said, I would like to introduce you all to a few of my favorite love themed poems.
➸ “i love you to the moon &” by Chen Chen
➸ “Tin Bucket” by Jenny George
➸ “Orlando” by Megan Fernandes
➸ “French Novel” by Richie Hofmann
➸ “After Opening The New York Times I Wonder How to Write a Poem About Love” by Camille T. Dungy
➸ “For Grace, After A Party” by Frank O’Hara
➸ “Mountain Dew Commercial Disguised as a Love Poem” by Matthew Olzmann
➸ “Untitled (Blue, Green, & Brown): oil on canvas: Mark Rothko: 1952” by Ocean Vuong
➸ “Dirty Valentine” by Richard Siken
➸ “Fly” by Richie Hofmann
➸ “Reader, I Married Him” by Margaret Ray
➸ “Twenty One Love Poems” by Adrienne Rich
➸ “Rainy Morning” by Louise Gluck
by Julia Glazebnik
Co-founder & Poetry Executive Editor