Love Poems from Snarling Cup of Coffee Chapbook Collection, 2nd posting

updated posting

Today’s selection from my chapbook contains Love poems. Most have been published elsewhere. See publication credits for acknowledgment

The Story of How We Met

Note: This is a true story. For further details see Dreams and the Unexplainable– a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, published September 2017.

It all began in Berkeley, California
In the spring time of 1974
One fateful afternoon

I was doing in my high school Physics class.

I looked up
and saw a tall, beautiful Asian woman standing looking at me.
She was the most beautiful women
in the universe to me

I screamed out, who are you?
She disappeared like she was beamed away from my dream.

I knew that someday I would meet the girl
In the dream

Little did I know
I would have to wait until 1982

Starting that month
I began having the same dream Month and month and month.
Always the same.

She was saying something to me in a strange language.

Then one day I had the dream and knew that she was in Korea.

So, I chose to go Korea
In the Peace Corps,

Somehow knowing
That I would meet her there.

One day
A year after the Peace Corps ended
A month before I planned
to leave to return
to the U.S. for graduate school

That morning early in the morning
I had the last of these dreams.
This time I understood her.

She said, “Don’t worry.
We’ll meet soon.”

That evening
As I was getting off the bus
To go to my class

I saw getting off the bus
The girl in my dream.
It was she!

I was speechless.
I did not know what to do.

Over the course of the evening I ran into her several times.

Finally, I was introduced to her.
I muttered some lame excuse
About wanting to find a Korean tutor and got her number.

The next day she came to the gate
Of my base where I was teaching
ESL to Koreans
She said that she had to speak with me.

I told to wait in the library
for about an hour,
and I would cancel class

and meet her then.
We went out for coffee.

She told me that she was madly in love with me

And simply had to have me.
I told her I felt the same way.

I proposed five days later,
And got married one month later. Does she believe this story?

She claims she does not believe it Because it is impossible to be true.

But I know that there are other worlds and other times.

In a past life we must have been together somehow. And our love was so strong

That it crossed over the barrier of past lives.
She found me in 1974,

But it took until 1982
For us to actually meet.

And it has been 35 years
Since we met in the physical sphere
Or 43 years since the dream began

And I still recall the dream
And meeting her

I had no choice
When I met her
We were fated to be together
Until the end of this lifetime
And the next and the next

 

Chains That Bind Us

I realize that my love for you
Is like a chain of steel
Unbreakable,
Tough as nails

Yet as your love entangles me I realize that I embrace my imprisonment
Don’t want to venture out of my cell

Made of our years together bit by bit
We have become entangled
Where I end, and you begin
Hopelessly entangled

Even if I wanted to break free
I could not
For I am you and you are me
My fate is in your hands

So, I relax
Decide to Just enjoy
The ride of my life
As we move
Towards the final moments

Together as we have always been
Inseparable, merged into one being
Staring at each other

Wondering who is that Person Of eternal mystery That has so captured my soul
And imprisoned it in her love

I smile thinking of your love
The endless pleasure it has brought me
The endless pain I have endured
Just to be next to you

Part of you
Until the day I die
When we meet in the next world

 

Where Do I and You Begin

I woke up one day
Realized, I no longer knew
Where you and I began

Where you and I ended
We had become almost one

We talked in half sentences
Knowing what the other wanted
Knowing how it would end

We ate the same foods
With some resistance

Because I still crave
an old-fashioned American meal,
and she does not

But still, we were becoming
more and more the same

I feared losing myself
In your embrace
Becoming you
You becoming me

This fear of losing me
In the ocean of us
Overwhelms me at times

But I know I will always
Return to your arms

Because I cannot live
A moment
Without you at my side

I know you are the same
we feel each other’s inner pain We feel each other’s outer pain

Our history has merged
Into one

Is that not the secret
Of a long marriage?
Have I figured
it all out in the end?

Does it come to this?
A merging of two souls
and two bodies?

I don’t have the answers
But I don’t have any more doubts
Or regrets with the path I have taken

I still look forward
To waking up each morning

Seeing you there
and knowing that every day we have together

Is a gift that I will cherish
Until my dying breath
 

Lost and Found

I was lost
And you found me

You walked out of my dreams
And into my life

And that made all the difference
In the world

As you entered my life

I was all alone in this cruel world
And you provided shelter
And comfort

I did not know what I wanted
And you gave me what I wanted

You gave me meaning
You gave me purpose

You gave me love
And understanding

peace and happiness
Joy, laughter and fun

You were endlessly fascinating
Could not keep my eyes off you

You were the most beautiful women
In the world to me

And you still are
So many years later

Like a fine bottle of wine
Gets better with age

And you gave me
Endless nights of wild love making

Which has gotten better
As well

And I fell under your spell
from the day I met you
I was lost
And you found me

And if you go first
I will be lost again

Can’t live without you
By my side

Thus, is has always been
Between us

We are so entangled
So, interwoven

And that is the way
It was meant to me

A Million Ways to Say I Love You
Published on Duane Poetree

They say
There are a million ways
To say I love you

In this day and age
I could only find
In my computer’s brain
The words to say I love you
In 53 languages of the 10,000 languages
Spoken on this planet

Someday I may be able
To say the simple words
I love you

In all know languages
This will have to suffice for a start

So I will say it
Loud, and clear
Just so you understand:

I love you (English)

Mein tumse pyar karta hoon (Hindi)
Tu Tane prem karoo chu (Gujarati)
Ame tomake bhalo bashe (Bengali)
Me tula premkarto (Marati)
Hum apse mohabbat karte hain (Urdu)
Mein thoda prem karanga (Punjabi)
Man Dooset Daram (Persian)
Ana Ahabik Yanooni (Arabic)
Havala (Hebrew)

Yongchon(Chinese)
Aloha (Hawaian)
Cinta(Indonesian)
Dangshinun sarang hayo (Korean)
Ajo (Japanese)
Kasih (Malay)
Phom tirak khun krap (Thai)
Akoay Paginghe ikou (Tagalog)
Toi yeu ong(Vietnamese)

Renmen (Creole)
Jesuis L’amour voies(French)
Liefdle (Flemish)
Estoy amor tu (Spanish)
Yosono amore tu (Italian)
Estou o amore tu (Portugese)

Dashuri (Albanian)
Maiteizam (Basque)
OBHYAM (Bulgarian)
Ljubav (Croatian)
Laska (Czech)
Jeger en kaerlighed du (Danish)
Ikben houden van jig (Dutch)
Gra (Gaelic)
Ich bin lieben tu (German)
Agape/eros (Greek)
Ami (Esperanto)
Armastama (Estonian)
Rakam (Finish)
Envagyok szeretet te (Hungarian)
Elska (Icelandic)
Ejekirin (Kurdish)
Milestiba (Latvian)
Meile (Lithuanian)
Eu dragoste tu (Romanian)
JHOBOEL Lubush (Russian)
Elske (Norweigan)
Easka (Slovak)
JBYBAB (Serbian)
Jagdan karlek du (Swedish)
KOYATH (Ukraine)
Benin sevi sen (Turkish)
Ahava (Yiddish)

Ngingu u thando ungu (Zulu)

 
Ode To Love On Valentine’s Day

Every since I met you my dear
My life has not been the same

Before I found you
I was lost, sad and lonely
Going nowhere as fast as possible

I was stuck
Did not know what direction to pursue
At the intersection watching life go by

I was lost, lonely and full of despair
Then one day I saw you

The girl of my dream
Standing there on the side of the road

I was filled with terror
Could not speak

What if you refused to see me
What if you denied my protestations of love

What if you walked away
Never to bee seen again

I knew I had to do something
I had to do it then and there

And then you came up to me
Your voice

The voice of an Angel
Sweat, full of light

Fun and entire sunshine

Ever since the day I met you
Whenever I feel down and depressed
I look at your picture

And sunshine fills my heart
And I am confident, happy and ready

To face all of life’s travails
As long as I have your love
And your support

I can overcome all obstacles
And face all dangers

Together we can do most anything

Without you I will be lost
In the swamp of despair

So my dear
Please stay with me
Forever to the end of time

Let us journey forward
Never looking back
My love, my life

The sun in the sky
The moon that lights my dreams at night
The stars that beacon far away

Thank to the Gods above
For bringing you into my life

And I promise I will love you
Forever and a day

Just to see your face
Is heaven itself

Just to hear your voice
Is all that I ever need

My love, my soul mate
Hurry back to me

We have so much loving to do
So much living to do
So much to do together

Walking confidently
Boldly into the future

Without you
All is nothing
But dust

With you
Everything is possible

My love
Until I see you again
A thousand kisses

And a million thoughts of love
That will have to suffice
Until we are reunited

My love, my darling,
My life and dreams

Hurry back to rescue me
From the despair and darkness
All around me

Until then
I salute you

Oh Queen of my Heart
General of Love
Captain of my Soul