One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII BY PABLO NERUDA

I don’t love you as if you were a salt-rose or topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

I Wanna Love Like by Shihan

 

I want a love like Me thinking of you Thinking of me thinking of you type love Or me telling my friends more than I’ve ever admitted to myself  About how I feel about you type love Or hating how jealous you are But loving how much you want me all to yourself type love Or see how your first name just sound so good next to my last name And shit I wanted to see how far I could get without calling you And I barely made it out of my garage	Quiero un amor como Yo pensando en ti Pensando en mí pensando en ti escribe amor O a mí diciéndoles a mis amigos más de lo que alguna vez admití Sobre lo que siento por ti, escribe amor O odiando lo celoso que eres Pero amando cuánto me quieres a todos a ti mismo escribe amor O vea cómo su primer nombre suena tan bien junto a mi apellido Y mierda, quería ver qué tan lejos podía llegar sin llamarte Y apenas salí de mi garaje
See, I want a love that makes me wait until she falls asleep And wonder if she’s dreaming about us being in love type love Or who loves the other more Or what she’s doing this exact moment Or slow dancing in the middle of our apartment to the music of our hearts Closing my eyes and imagining how a love so good Could hurt so much when she’s not there  And I love not knowing where this love is headed type love And check this, I want to place those little post-it notes All around the how she she never forgets how much I love her type love And not have enough ink in my pen to write all there is to love about her type love And hope I make her feel as good as she makes me feel	Mira, quiero un amor que me haga esperar hasta que se duerma Y me pregunto si ella está soñando con que estamos enamorados tipo amor O quién ama al otro más O lo que está haciendo este momento exacto O baile lento en el medio de nuestro departamento con la música de nuestros corazones Cerrando los ojos e imaginando cómo un amor tan bueno Podría doler tanto cuando ella no está allí Y, me encanta no saber hacia dónde se dirige este amor, tipo amor Y mira esto, quiero colocar esas pequeñas notas post-it En todo el mundo, cómo ella nunca olvida cuánto amo a su tipo amor Y no tengo suficiente tinta en mi pluma para escribir todo lo que hay para amar sobre su tipo de amor Y espero que la haga sentir tan bien como ella me hace sentir
And I want to deal with my friends making fun of me The way I made fun of them when they went through the same kind of love type love Only difference is, this is one of those real love type loves And just like in high school I want to spend hours on the phone not saying [ish] And then fall asleep and then wake up with her right next to me And smell her all up in my covers type love	Y quiero tratar con mis amigos burlándose de mí La forma en que me burlaba de ellos cuando pasaban por el mismo tipo de amor tipo amor La única diferencia es que este es uno de esos tipos de amores amorosos reales Y al igual que en la escuela secundaria Quiero pasar horas hablando por teléfono sin decir mierda Y luego se duerme y luego se despierta con ella a mi lado Y la huelo todo en mis fundas tipo amor
I want to try counting the ways I love her And lose count in the middle just so I have to start all over again And I want to celebrate one of those one month anniversaries  Even though they ain’t really anniversaries But doing it just ‘cause it make her happy type love And, check this, I want to fall in love with the melody the phone plays When none of us dialed into it type love And talk to you until I lose my breath She leaves me breathless  But with the expanding of my lungs I inhale all of her back into me	Quiero intentar contar las formas en que la amo Y pierdo la cuenta en el medio, así que tengo que empezar todo de nuevo Y quiero celebrar uno de esos aniversarios de un mes Aunque en realidad no son aniversarios Pero hacerlo solo porque la hace feliz tipo amor Y, mira esto, quiero enamorarme de la melodía que toca el teléfono Cuando ninguno de nosotros marcó el tema, escribe amor Y hablar contigo hasta que pierda mi respiración Ella me deja sin aliento Pero con la expansión de mis pulmones, inhalo toda ella de vuelta a mí
I want a love that makes me need to change my cell phone calling plan To something allows me to talk to her longer ‘cause in all honesty, I want to avoid one of them high cell phone bill type loves And I want a love that makes me regret how small my hands are I mean the lines on my palms don’t give me enough time To love you as long as I’d like to type love And I want a love that makes me st-st-st-st-stutter  Just thinking about how strong this love is type love And I want a love that makes me want to cut off all my hair Well, maybe not all of the hair Maybe like I cut the split ends and trim my moustache But it would still be a symbol of how strong my love for her	Quiero un amor que me haga necesitar cambiar mi plan de llamadas A algo me permite hablar con ella por más tiempo Porque con toda honestidad, quiero evitar uno de ellos tipo de cuenta de teléfono celular alta ama Y quiero un amor que me haga arrepentirme de lo pequeñas que son mis manos Quiero decir que las líneas en mis palmas no me dan suficiente tiempo Para amarte, siempre y cuando me gustaría escribir amor Y quiero un amor que me haga st-st-st-st-tartamudeo Solo pensando en cuán fuerte es este tipo de amor Y quiero un amor que me haga querer cortarme todo el pelo Bueno, tal vez no todo el cabello Tal vez como cortar las puntas abiertas y recortar mi bigote Pero seguiría siendo un símbolo de lo fuerte que es mi amor por ella
And check this, I kind of feel comfortable now So I even be fantasizing about walking out on a green light Just dying to get hit by a car Just so I could lose my memory Get transported to some third world country just to get treated Then somehow meet up again with you so I can fall in love with you In a different language and see if it still feels the same type love I want a love that’s as unexplainable as she is But I’m married, so she’s gonna be the one I share this love with	Y escucha esto, me siento cómodo ahora Así que incluso fantaseo con salir de la luz verde Solo muero por ser atropellado por un auto Solo para poder perder la memoria Hazte transportar a un país del tercer mundo solo para que te traten Entonces, de alguna manera, me reuniré contigo para poder enamorarme de ti. En un idioma diferente y ver si todavía se siente el mismo tipo de amor Quiero un amor que sea tan inexplicable como ella Pero estoy casado, entonces ella será la única con quien comparto este amor

As I Walked One Evening by W.H Auden

 

“I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you Till China and Africa meet, And the river jumps over the mountain I’ll love you till the ocean Is folded and hung up to dry.” ~From  “As I Walked One Evening” by W.H Auden

"Te amaré, querido, te amaré Hasta que China y África se reúnan, Y el río salta sobre la montaña  Te amaré hasta el océano Se dobla y se cuelga para secar " ~De “Mientras caminaba una tarde” by W.H Auden

How to Change a Frog Into a Prince by Anna Denise

Start with the underwear. Sit him down.
Hopping on one leg may stir unpleasant memories.
If he gets his tights on, even backwards, praise him.
Fingers, formerly webbed, struggle over buttons.
Arms and legs, lengthened out of proportion, wait,
as you do, for the rest of him to catch up.
This body, so recently reformed, reclaimed,
still carries the marks of its time as a frog. Be gentle.
Avoid the words awkward and gawky.
Do not use tadpole as a term of endearment.
His body, like his clothing, may seem one size too big.
Relax. There's time enough for crowns. He'll grow into it.

Resignation by Nikki Giovanni, 1943

I love you

         because the Earth turns round the sun

         because the North wind blows north

         sometimes

         because the Pope is Catholic

         and most Rabbis Jewish

         because the winters flow into springs

         and the air clears after a storm

         because only my love for you

         despite the charms of gravity

         keeps me from falling off this Earth

         into another dimension

I love you

         because it is the natural order of things

I love you

         like the habit I picked up in college

         of sleeping through lectures

         or saying I’m sorry

         when I get stopped for speeding

         because I take my coffee Black

         and my milk with chocolate

         because you keep my feet warm

         though my life a mess

I love you

         because I don’t want it

         any other way

I love you

         because it’s been so good

         for so long

         that if I didn’t love you

         I’d have to be born again

         and that is not a theological statement...

I love you

         because I am afraid of the dark

         and can’t sleep in the light

         because I rub my eyes

         when I wake up in the morning

         and find you there

         because you with all your magic powers were

         determined that

I should love you

         because there was nothing for you but that

I would love you

I love you

         because you made me

         want to love you

         more than I love my privacy

         my freedom      my commitments

               and responsibilities

I love you ’cause I changed my life

            to love you

            because you saw me one Friday

                 afternoon and decided that I would

love you

When I Was One-and-Twenty BY A. E. HOUSMAN

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy [heart] free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom [chest]
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue [sadness].”
And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

Love Song by Dorothy Parker

My own dear love, he is strong and bold
And he cares not what comes after.
His words ring sweet as a chime of gold,
And his eyes are lit with laughter.
He is jubilant as a flag unfurled—
Oh, a girl, she’d not forget him.
My own dear love, he is all my world,—

And I wish I’d never met him.

My love, he’s mad, and my love, he’s fleet,
And a wild young wood-thing bore him!
The ways are fair to his roaming feet,
And the skies are sunlit for him.
As sharply sweet to my heart he seems
As the fragrance of acacia.
My own dear love, he is all my dreams,—

And I wish he were in Asia.

My love runs by like a day in June,
And he makes no friends of sorrows.
He’ll tread his galloping rigadoon
In the pathway of the morrows.
He’ll live his days where the sunbeams start,
Nor could storm or wind uproot him.
My own dear love, he is all my heart,—

And I wish somebody’d shoot him.