love is a stranger that doesn’t shop where I work
love is too busy to go out to a used book store
on a random Tuesday
love is probably unaware of my existence
love is a man with a heart three sizes too big
but still maybe too full for me right now
love is tired of sleeping in a bed as empty as mine
love is eventually going to say hello
but for now
love is still a stranger
Tag: Future Love
poems written for a future, unknown lover or partner
more openly [poem]
I talk about finding you
more openly now
love
knowing people
are far more adaptable
than I ever gave them credit for
my open marriage and subtle hunt for you
are simply love in a different form
it makes me hum with pleasure
when I don’t have to defend my open heart
from closed minds
so I take chances
talk about you without knowing
exactly when you’ll get here
but hey
no one will be surprised by your arrival
introduced long before you walked through the door
love as a pilgrimage [poem]
when I tell you I love you
it is the holiest truth I can give voice to
know that this heart is a cavernous temple
too dangerous to traverse
and those words are your guide
to the only safe passageway into me
and you will enter at your own risk
I cannot save you from the darkness
the unseen traps
the terrifying silence that seems almost alive
you won’t enter this sacred ruin
and return home unchanged
the journey will change you
whether you like it or not
if you value your ignorance
your agnostic outlook on life and love
shut your ears to these divine words
do not love me
turn around
run
and never look back
gamer romance [poem]
teach me your quirks
make your interests my own
if you love that game I’ve never heard of
have me over to play it while we eat pizza
hand me the controller with minimal instruction
and laugh as I crash and burn
I’ll shove you off the couch while I try to work out
the right keys to jump and shoot
I may not fall in love with the game
maybe I’ll hand over the gameplay
halfway through the first round
but I’ll appreciate the gesture
overgrown [poem]
I don’t know how you’ll handle all this
overgrown garden of a soul
without mistaking my most beautiful blossoms
for weeds
Love
I don’t know what kind of gardener might’ve
learned wildcrafting at their mother’s bosom
not in this world of cookie cutter lawns and
white picket fences made to hold us in
to keep my untamed mint patch
from contaminating your perfectly pruned hedges
but will vines creep between the holes in your fence
Love
and dandelions float on the breeze
with a gentle fuck you in their bright yellow blooms
what I’m trying to say is
I let someone else borrow my lawnmower years ago
and never asked for it back
the tools in the shed have rusted
since the last time I tried to keep all my greenery
just so
this heart is more hiking trail
than zen garden
here’s to hoping you like it
imaginary lover [poem]
I don’t want to write a fucking poem today
I just want silence
I’m so tired
love
and you are so imaginary that
I probably need medication
but it doesn’t matter
nothing really matters right now
the days slip by unnoticed and unannounced
just like me
no one misses January
when it passes on toward spring
and no one misses me
geeky love [poem]
I need you to play with me
to be my Sexy as the adventure begins
you have to get that reference
or know what to ask to figure it out
be a clever boy
I need you to be steeped in geekery
so that you can flit from topic to topic with me
laughing along with my jokes and dry humour
I don’t expect the same interests
in fact
my knowledge of anime is severely lacking
but that’s where balance comes in
I’ll teach you the joys of British television
if you’ll point out your favorite voice actor
in that series no one knows
I need fun in my life
someone who understands why I refuse
to be taken too seriously
and agrees to embrace silliness
where the hell? [poem]
where the hell will you come from?
it’s the first question that runs through my mind
when I try to imagine your arrival in my life
like
where well we meet?
what will be the first thing to tie us together?
it’s hard to imagine
how you’ll get past my weirdness
that force field of oddness I exude
I wonder how long it’ll take you to step up
to get past my wife and my impossible honesty
and be okay with me
all of me
I’m not saying that I think I’m unlovable
I just recognize how difficult it is
to jump into the deep end
when you can’t see the bottom
thermodynamic equilibrium [poem]
someone once described the perfect couple
as opposites
one person with cold hands
the other warm
in holding hands they reach
thermodynamic equilibrium
just a couple big words for balance
really
the idea made me smile
because I’ve always been a natural hot spring
regardless of the weather around me
always warmer than people I touch
I was forged rather than born
a creature of molten intellect and the slow burn
to be balanced I guess I need
a snow angel or
a frost giant
someone full of frozen fractals and icy calm
I want chilled fingers against my overheated neck
the kind of contrast that leaves both of us
gasping
screw equilibrium
I just want to feel a shock
a reminder that I’m still here
smoldering
hello [poem]
you gotta put the hell in hello
to be mine
love
because the only way I’ll trust you
is if you’re an honest liar
the kind of demon who makes deals where
you get exactly what you asked for
it’s your fault if you ask for the right thing
in the wrong way
I need a damned soul with sin stained hands
to join me in this
constant parade of fuck it
someone who’s down with just riding the chaos
until it crashes
you dark and twisty thing
you are the wicked grin before the game begins
and me
I’m ready to play
I call you love [poem]
I call you love
but you are far more complicated than a lover
you are friend
secret keeper
audience to my stories
when I feel the need to tell them
you are sunlight and rain to my chlorophyll heart
I drink you in
to root myself in living
in loving
you are puppy
kitten
fluffy ball of cuteness
in a world that sometimes overwhelms me
with its gritty reality
you are tattoo
a permanent reminder of who I was
who I am
and who I want to be
you are coffee with the right amount of cream
a touch of sugar
caffeine waking up my weary heart one more time
with a bittersweet kiss on my tongue
you are more than magic
and mayhem
and heartfelt prayer
you are warm sheets and a light on when I get home
you are the last cookie on after long day
you are love
story [poem]
tell me a story
love
your story
tell me about your parents
how they met in a small town back home
where everyone knows everyone’s business
tell me about the move out west
when your little family started growing
tell me about your brother
and his ridiculous obsession with pogs
tell me about that one teacher
who taught you to dive face first into a good book
just for fun
tell me about your first job
and the realization that money is a troublesome thing
as much of a trap as it is a key to freedom
tell me about the cracks in your heart
and the ones who put them there on purpose
tell me about the cracks you’ve made in others too
tell me about your smallest dream
the one that’s so close just waiting for you
to stand up and touch it
tell me about the fear that keeps you awake at night
maybe our demons
can dance together in the darkness
tell me a story
love
all about you
organized chaos [poem]
I live in a state of organized chaos
it’s true
the way my things have special piles and lists
so many lists
of what to do and when and where
and pages and pages of why
my life reflects my mind
so you’ll have to excuse the mess
and get comfortable with the way I think
loving me is stepping into a thick fog
with no clue what’s ahead
you’ll need to enjoy the mystery
I can’t color code myself enough
to make sense to anyone who’s not
really
interested
in understanding
in untangling the knotted yarn
of my ever-spinning heart
you’ll need to have patience
before you start this odd journey
or you’ll get lost from me
long before love is in our sight
be ready to wander aimlessly
shamelessly
through the flickering memories I share
until somehow it all makes sense
in its own
chaotic
way
Larissa Lee 