In the sky, a moon;
on your face, a mouth.
In the sky, many stars;
on your face, only two eyes.
love poem
untitled poem by the Japanese Emperor Yozei (reigned 877-884)
Falling from the ridge
Of high Tsukuba,
The Minano River
At last gathers itself,
Like my love, into
A deep, still pool.
The Key by Ceyhun Atuf Kansu
Look! I am but a road to you
The road you tread every morning
I am a tree to you, the acacia
In whose shadow you wait for a bus.
Tell me who you are
Let me write at the corners of streets
I’ve lost myself in your town
Your name is my street.
Tell me where your house is
Do you like afternoons or evenings?
Let me knock on your door
Unlock and show me the secret garden.
Give me the padlock of your eyes
Let me close us off from the world
Look, this is my key
Unlock yourself, there is love about to emerge
Please do not hide it.
translated by Ahu Dereli & Jean Carpenter Efe
Love Song Of A Young Man: a Native American poem from the Pacific Northwest
Whenever I eat,
I eat the pain of your love, mistress.
Whenever I get sleepy,
I dream of my love, my mistress.
Whenever I lie on my back in the house,
I lie on the pain of your love, mistress.
For whenever I walk about,
I step on the pain of your love, mistress.
translated by Frank Boas
I Cannot Forget You: a Makah love poem
No matter how hard I try to forget you,
you always come back to my thoughts.
When you hear me singing
I am really crying for you.
Untitled Poem by A.E. Housman
Oh, when I was in love with you,
Then I was clean and brave,
And miles around the wonder grew
How well did I behave.
And now the fancy passes by,
And nothing will remain,
And miles around they’ll say that I
Am quite myself again.
The First Day by Christina Rossetti
I wish I could remember the first day,
First hour, first moment of your meeting me;
If bright or dim the season, it might be
Summer or winter for aught I can say.
So unrecorded did it slip away,
So blind was I to see and to foresee,
So dull to mark the budding of my tree
That would not blossom yet for many a May.
If only I could recollect it! Such
A day of days! I let it come and go
As traceless as a thaw of bygone snow.
It seemed to mean so little, meant so much!
If only now I could recall that touch,
First touch of hand in hand!–Did one but know!
A Drinking Song by W.B. Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
I Love You So by Ahmet Ada
You’ll stand waiting in the rain your eyelashes will grow long
Dusk will descend in a little while
To the water that runs softly to the lonesome asphalt roads
You will walk and your eyelashes will get wet tenderly
And love will accompany you
From the marble sidewalk
“I love you so,” the girl
Who has made a kite out of her heart will say
That girl who sheds leaves when you steal a look
A dawdler, you will walk
Your heart seething with flighty passions
On your lapel a flower that offers all of its fragrance
Inquiring into the loves that have an unhappy ending
The desk will study you, the water glass will be full
When that young girl awakes now
translated by Talat S. Halman
For Many Years. . . . by Kemal Özer
Perhaps the street I’ve gone into and come out of
for so many years will no longer look at my face
nor even remember my name. . .
the sky I carry over my head,
the table at which I have my meals, the bed that gives me haven,
the worries I can’t do away with
to all of them I should bid farewell
say good-bye to all of them at the dawn of this day.
And I should bid welcome my darling
with your face, hands, and voice
to all things that sparkle in my blood.
translated by Talat S. Halman
Leonard Durso 