Love Poem

By John Frederick Nims

My clumsiest dear, whose hands shipwreck vases,
At whose quick touch all glasses chip and ring,
Whose palms are bulls in china, burs in linen,
And have no cunning with any soft thing

Except all ill-at-ease fidgeting people:
The refugee uncertain at the door
You make at home; deftly you steady
The drunk clambering on his undulant floor.

Unpredictable dear, the taxi drivers’ terror,
Shrinking from far headlights pale as a dime
Yet leaping before apopleptic streetcars –
Misfit in any space. And never on time.

A wrench in clocks and the solar system. Only
With words and people and love you move at ease:
In traffic of wit expertly maneuver
And keep us, all devotion, at your knees.

Forgetting you coffee spreading on our flannel,
Your lipstick grinning on our coat,
So gaily in love’s unbreakable heaven
Our souls on glory of spilt bourbon float.

Be with me, darling, early and late. Smash glasses –
I will study wry music for your sake.
For should your hands drop white and empty
All the toys of the world would break.

Mon Jul 23, 01:25:00 PM
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Anonymous said…
It is women such as yourself who inspire poetry like that of Neruda’s. Looking at your photos and never having the pleasure of meeting you, the peom “Tonight I can write” comes to mind, where he describes the eyes of his lover by writing “How could one not have loved her great still eyes”
and also “Her infinite eyes”.

Your are breathtaking.

Mon Jul 23, 09:55:00 PM
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Anonymous said…
It is women such as yourself who inspire poetry like that of Neruda’s. Looking at your photos, the poem “Tonight I can write” comes to mind, where he describes the eyes of his lover by writing “How could one not have loved her great still eyes”
and also “Her infinite eyes”.

You are breathtaking.

Mon Jul 23, 09:56:00 PM
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Anonymous said…
I’ve had the pleasure of looking into Maha’s eyes and Infinite is the perfect description for them. When she speaks her eyes show you a little girl which is one of the thousands of reasons it is so easy to be lost in everything she is. g

Tue Jul 24, 09:07:00 PM
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Anonymous said…
I don’t think I have heard of this guy before but he’s AWESOME! That poem’s so cool!

People REALLY like you, eh! That’s so neat!!!!!!

Wed Jul 25, 12:00:00 AM
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Maria Calvo said…
Wicked poem, Maha. Thanks for sharing!

Look at you and your admiring followers

maria

Wed Jul 25, 10:02:00 AM
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Ijtema said…
Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah
I pray that you are in the best of health & imaan.
This is a short message to notify you that this entry has been selected for publishing on IJTEMA, a venture to highlight the best of the Muslim blogosphere.
To find out more about IJTEMA, and how you can further contribute, please click here.
May Allah bless you for your noble efforts.
Wa’salam

Thu Jul 26, 11:23:00 AM
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Colleen said…
This is one of my favorite poems also, thanks for posting.
Colleen

Mon Jul 30, 06:50:00 PM