Will You Be My Valentine

Will you be my Valentine?
I know that I am yours.
You are like a tossing sea
And I am like your shores.

You are like an endless wave
And I your waiting sand.
And I will wait forever as
You come and smooth my hand.

I will wait forever, yet
You are a part of me.
I hold you in my arms, while you
Come to me endlessly.

Will you be my Valentine?
I know that I am yours.
I love you with a love that yearns
To be your golden shores.

Valentine's for Lovers and for Friends

Valentine's for lovers and for friends.
All my love goes out to you this day!
Love is something different from desire:
Even, silent, peaceful as the sky.
Nor is love interested in means or ends.
There are no selfish needs that it must weigh.
Instead, love's plenitude itself inspires,
Needing neither cause nor reason why.
Each day my thoughts enchanted with you lie.

Valentine's A Day to Say, "I Love You"

Valentine's a day to say, "I love you,"
A ritual that stages something real,
Letting out the truth of what I feel
Even as I think it often of you.
Nor could I with such grace without this day
Tell you that I'm grateful that I have you,
Impress upon you just how much I need you,
Needing such a frame for what I say
Even as I would my heart reveal.

The Day of Love Requires a Companion

The day of love requires a companion,
But I find myself at this time all alone.
Words of sweet affection fill the morning
Like bells outside the windows of my room.

I don't know why I don't have someone with me.
I've loved and been loved through the restless years.
The mysteries of love I hold within me
Are a darkness unrelieved by moon and stars.

And yet I feel more love than I have ever
Felt within the circle of a kiss.
Love need not be a passion or a fever,
Nor does it need a hand for its caress.

Love does not require a companion.
It doesn't need an object or a home.
It flies above the ecstasy of morning
And fills the universe inside my room.

Some Might Think, Perhaps, that I'm Not Pleased

Some might think, perhaps, that I'm not pleased
At how you've trivialized my name and day.
In fact, I think romantic love's one way
New recruits for paradise are seized.
True, the object is the kind that's squeezed.
Very well! We're flesh, and though we may
Awaken first to lust, at last love's play
Leads us to redemption by degrees.
Each soul must find its way from love to Love,
Needing love, beside itself with need,
Though through pride, reluctant to give in.
In cards and flowers, chocolate hearts, and such,
None but must recite love's gentle creed,
Each proclaiming tenderness within.

One Alone Cannot Make Two

One alone cannot make two,
But two alone can tally three.
If some find sums enough to do,
Some find some their ecstasy.

Yet do not add unless you love,
For greater sums require more,
And though in proof might pleasant prove,
In life might prove a lifelong chore.

Valentines ought best beware
Of multiplying much too soon.
While two might err, far more must bear
What didn't add up one afternoon.

No Love So Strong It Needs No Sign

No love so strong it needs no sign,
Nor feeling deep it needs no light:
So will you be my Valentine?

Love loves the days that loves define,
When words bring souls to silent sight.
No love so strong it needs no sign,

Nor can we our own souls divine
Without the music of delight:
So will you be my Valentine?

And will you let yourself be mine
As I am yours, of need and right?
No love so strong it needs no sign,

Nor is it wrong to draw a line
And need with hungry need requite:
So will you be my Valentine?

For love grows old like sun-drenched wine
That sweetness brings to evenings bright.
No love so strong it needs no sign:
So will you be my Valentine?

My Love Is Both a Hunger and a Giving

My love is both a hunger and a giving,
A need to have and also to bestow,
A lavish lust for flesh and yet a yearning
For beauty as austere as polished stone.

I want more than my life your happiness,
And yet my happiness depends on you.
Like a child I linger in your shadow
While like a parent I take you in my arms.

I want to be the sun to fill your sky
While like a rose I open to your smile.
I want to be the air you breathe, your music,
While like the sand I wait upon your sea.

So like and unlike, my love is doubly bonded,
The joys of giving and receiving joined.
This day of love it is my gift to you,
A heart you can consume yet keep forever.

Love Comes Through the Eyes That See

Love comes through the eyes that see
And through the ears that hear,
For people are quite beautiful,
And words make feelings clear.

Love comes through the hands that touch
With unabashed affection,
For only skin-to-skin can love
Maintain its true direction.

Love comes through the tastes and smells
Of fresh and well-cooked food,
For in the gift of nourishment
Is much else that is good.

But though love comes through senses five,
Love comes from the heart,
For there resides the greater love
Of which ours is a part.

Linda Was Quite Lonely

Linda was quite lonely
On the day of love.
No one cared how well she fared
Or which way she might move.

No one thought her lovely
Or dreamed of her caress,
Or so she thought until she bought
A sexy dark red dress.

That dress had seemed a failure,
Though she had lost some weight.
Some men stared, but no one cared
Enough to make a date.

Her calendar was empty,
As empty as her heart,
When in this hell she heard the bell
And jumped up with a start.

Could it be? Oh, could it?
Here was her salvation!
To her joy a delivery boy
Was holding a carnation.

"Carnation-Gram," the boy said,
And handed her the box.
Who was it from? Perhaps someone
Who thought she was a fox.

All Linda's sadness vanished
As if it never were.
That little flower had the power
To set her heart astir!

And so when Johnny called her
In a little while,
She was primed in heart and mind
To greet him with a smile.

So please remember Linda
When starting a relation:
Her mood reversed when she got first
A single, cheap carnation!