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Love Poems #3|THE LOVE PUB|NEW WRITERS|100 FOLLOWERS|

Love Poems 3

Sharing my favorite collection of Love poems dedicated to the famous poets who gave me the inspiration for LOVE. Please stay for 30 seconds. I hope to publish one poem every hour. This includes a love activity for the day.

Image created by Author, Love

Yes. That is me. Love.

I wanted to feature a collection of my favorite poets. Dedicated to those who are alone today and do not need Valentine’s Day to feel and give love.

Let’s gather around and celebrate our own love day with a collection of love poems from my favorite poets. I would love for you to read them slowly, feel every word, every verse, and try to place yourself in the poet’s shoes when the narrative of love was penned. Put yourself in the time and place of the author.

Each of us will feel differently about each poem. Let’s enjoy a love day activity, highlight the verse that resonates with you and share your feelings about the verse. Let’s try this, shall we?

Here’s an example of the activity.

Example: The poet is Kahlil Gibran.

Verse: “Stand together, yet not too near together; for the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

Love: I was introduced to “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran when I was nine years old. I was punished to sit in our library and this was the first book of poems my father handed me to read and understand while being punished.

The verse was taken from Kahlil Gibran’s work called “The Prophet,” and for me, this verse speaks to the idea of maintaining individuality within every relationship. The metaphor of the pillars and the trees illustrates the concept that while individuals should stand together to support each other and be a companion to one another, the verse recommends that maintaining a certain distance to allow personal growth and independence.

I will provide a brief background about the poet for each poem shared.

Are you ready?

“The Love Pub” Editors, let’s do this!

To Love is Not to Possess

by James Kavanaugh (1928–2009)

This is one of James Kavanaugh’s most famous poems. Kavanaugh was an American poet, priest and author, known for his insighful and often challenging views about love, religion and humanity.

Kavanaugh gained notable attention after he left as a priest and wrote a book titled “A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church,” which supposedly critiqued the Catholic church and sparked the need for reform in its approach to various life issues.

Please let me know your thoughts about this poem.

To Love is Not to Possess

by James Kavanaugh (1928–2009)

To love is not to possess,

To own or imprison,

Nor to lose one’s self in another.

Love is to join and separate,

To walk alone and together,

To find a laughing freedom

That lonely isolation does not permit.

It is finally to be able

To be who we really are

No longer climbing in childish dependency

Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,

It is to be perfectly one’s self

And perfectly joined in permanent commitment

To another-and to one’s inner self.

Love only endures when it moves like waves,

Receding and returning gently or passionately,

Or moving lovingly like the tide

In the moon’s own predictable harmony,

Because finally, despite a child’s scars

Or an adult’s deepest wounds,

They are openly free to be

Who they really are — and always secretly were,

In the very core of their being

Where true and lasting love can alone abide

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Meet the LOVE team of editors:

Samantha M🥀, Marta Henriques, David Rudder, Asoka Richie, Chinedu V. Onyema, Rhonda Grice, Eva Joy, Francis Lee, GingerFunk78, Purple Heart💜, The Idealist, Delaney Patterson, Mike Sansone, ✅ Doc Samurai Sam 🍿, Paras Ali, Ramona C Truta, Robin Christine Honigsberg, Vivian.

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