Need some help wooing your honey this Valentine’s Day? Here are fourteen of our favorite queer love poems, rounded up from LambdaLiterary.org and across the web.
- Who better to start us off than Sappho? In this fragment, translated by Richard Lattimore, she describes just how much havoc a crush can wreak: “Let me only glance where you are, the voice dies,/ I can say nothing…” [Academy of American Poets]
- Shakespeare‘s gender-bending Sonnet 20 remains one of my favorites. A perfect read for the “master-mistress” of passion in your life! [Poetry Archive]
- In “The Shampoo,” famously private Elizabeth Bishop finally lets her hair down. Randall Mann chose the piece for Saeed Jones’ “What Makes a Poem Gay?” series last year, calling it “an evasive, erotic celebration…” [For Southern Boys Who Consider Poetry]
- Having a hard time expressing yourself? Let Henri Cole‘s beautiful “Gravity and Center” explain for you: “I’m sorry I cannot say I love you when you say/ you love me…” [Academy of American Poets]
- In “My Box,” Eileen Myles writes that she wants “…to be/ loved like/ a sunbeam…” And who doesn’t? [Eileen Myles]
- Single this V-day? Just remember, you’re never alone when you have a celebrity crush. Check out Alex Dimitrov‘s ode to celebrity du jour James Franco for inspiration. [Lambda Literary]
- Gabrielle Calvocoressi‘s “A Love Supreme” offers a taste of both the “sweet and sweaty” sides of eros. [From the Fishouse]
- In “Paul’s Tattoo,” Mark Doty watches “the blank page of [his] dear one’s bicep” get filled in. Getting inked has never sounded more appealing. [Slate]
- “I wanted to say that you looked sweeter than a slice of ginger cake…” These two lovely poems by Kirsty Logan are sure to make everyone jealous of the muse behind them. [Lambda Literary]
- Scott Hightower‘s “Physician’s Heart” is the perfect poem for the McDreamy in your life, while “Love” will appeal to any couple who “never sleep[s] apart…” [Good Reads]
- In these excerpts from “Twenty-One Love Poems,” Adrienne Rich reflects on the kind of love that comes only with age and wisdom: “At twenty, yes: we thought we’d live forever./ At forty-five, I want to know even our limits.” [Southern Cross Review]
- Loving long distance? Give Timothy Liu‘s “I Needed Your Body Near Me” a read: “An ocean is nothing, there is no separation/ between two lovers.” [Lambda Literary]
- And there’s no better day than February 14th for Kay Ryan to remind us that “It is important/ to stay sweet/ and loving.” [Poetry Foundation]
- Finally, a video of my celebrity crush, Frank O’Hara, reading his classic poem “Having a Coke with You.” I’ll be spending tonight drinking a bottle of cheap champagne and watching this on repeat. [YouTube]
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
