Poetic Asides April Challenge Day 19 prompt love poem and unlove poem

The Things You Do That Make Me Love You

The way you read your book “very close”

Meaning you need to nod off for a bit

In your recliner after work and your face

Relaxes into its youthful vulnerability

When you do, and it’s all I can do to keep

From running my hand down your cheek

Smoothing your brow, touching your hair.

The way you come up behind me ten times

A day and slip your arms around my waist

Nuzzle my neck the way you always have

Breathe me in as if you just have to

And hum snatches of the most sentimental

Songs ever in my ear just loud enough

To make my soul feel like dancing

How, when we’re out somewhere very

Ordinary – like the grocery store or buying

Plants for the garden and we get separated

For a bit; I’ll feel this warmth suffusing me

And look up and always, your eyes will be on me

Full of that look they have always had – as if

You cannot believe your luck, and how much

Love you hold for me is spilling all over ...

And

How Don’t I Love Thee

(don’t let me count the ways – not only will it lead to arguments – we don’t have that much time!)

In the bed, when you lie horizontally

And wind yourself up tighter

Than any Egyptian’s mummy

In top-sheet and duvet

And when you insist you sleep

Better with me in our bed

Then out and no, you are not

Bothered by my reading light

  

Then proceed to glare or frown at me

Every fifteen minutes or so

Until I either vacate the bed

Or douse the light

When you insist on spending

Quality time with me

In front of our family room TV

With the “mute” on the whole time.

You can’t abide most announcers

Or commercials either – fair enough

But – you really don’t

Want to talk either

Still, you resent my sliding

Over to “Red Tosh” (my laptop)

Me - figuring since I can’t hear

The TV anyhow, and chatting

Is obviously too distracting ...

Wonder what your problem is

When  I catch you frowning at me

Mostly though? How guilty I feel

Putting any of these things down

In writing, they seem so bloody

Picayune when lined up against

All the good things you do ...

Still – sometimes ...