Of Love and Lotus Flowers

all hail love poetry!

Hello, Poetry Friend

Love surprises. Like a mouse, it creeps in through the hole you did not even realize was there, the one that leads from your heart to the person you will later know as your beloved.

The following poem, by Rabindranath Tagore, is, at its most literal level, about a flower blooming. But to me, this is a poem about love. How its “sweet trace of a strange fragrance” does something to us. Out the window it might be winter, but there’s a fire a’blazin’ in the ol’ hearth.

On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind
was straying
 
     On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
      Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
     That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to me that it was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.
     I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.
 
— Rabindranath Tagore, featured in Earth Song

Poets have written love poems as long as there have been poets. There are poems about falling in love, falling out of love, love that changes over time, forbidden love, love as a four-letter word, and of course, love for chocolate. If you’ve ever loved, then you have a topic to write about.

Let that mouse sneak into your writing notebook today.

Poetry Journal

• Read the poem. (It’s also available in a great collection of nature poetry titled Earth Song.)

• Jot down what you notice, what you like, what you don’t, what questions you have, and at least one way in which the poem speaks to your soul.

• Read the poem again, aloud (if you didn’t the first time). Do you think this poem is about love, or do you think it’s about something else? Write down whatever Tagore’s poem means to you.

• Write your own poem about love. (Mine is over at my website.) If you like, email me yours.

Take care, Megan