Ode to the Adolescent Lover

Remember when your parents told you you were too young to know what love is?

In the spring,

they asked me how I loved,

and I asked them what they meant.

They said, “How do you love, little girl?”

And, unsure, I said, “With hearts and butterflies,

sir, with pictures as gifts and butterflies.”

For when my heart loves, it flies.

And they grinned and smiled;

We walked onward for a while.

In the summer,

they asked me how I loved.

To make them happy, I told them,

“With hearts and butterflies,”

and they believed me.

But under my breath I muttered,

“With secrets and fireflies,

behind bonfires roaring six feet high.

Under blankets beneath bewitching stars,

to the rhythm of summer storms,

beat our hearts.”

And they nodded and smiled,

for I was young, naïve, and wild,

But onward Time and I impelled.

In the fall, as their energy died down,

they asked me how I loved, how did I know.

For I was so young, naïve, and callow.

I turned to them and boldly replied,

“I love valiantly with the wind as my guide.

I love with gold leaves, red ones too.

I love with bare trees and their primitive view.

I love with the children’s screams in piles of leaves.

I love with the moaning hearth.

I love with shared blankets and hoodies.”

And they chuckled and laughed,

For I was young, naïve, and callow.

But onward Time and I did go.

In the winter, when I grew weary,

They asked again, “Little girl,”

Though little I was not,

“how doth you love; how doth you know?”

And, understanding their true question,

I replied, “Quietly, for my love is hard to swallow.

I love big. I love hard. I love slow.

From beneath the trees who sleep,

I’ve grown to know who will lose their leaves this year,

and who will accompany me

to face a cold, brisk, and dreary.

I love with the eternal stars.

Don't question my worth!

I love my Love for all she is and who we are.

I love with snowflakes.

I love with freezing rain.

I love with abandoned beaches and lonesome waves.

I love with blizzards and stripping winds.

They slip into her house and break her in.

For Love can be jealous and unkind,

But there’s no stopping a blizzard love like mine.”

And, satisfied, they simply nodded and sighed.

They simply nodded and sighed.

But I could feel a tear well up in my eye.

_{© 2011 Alyssa K. Dufresne}

Author's Note

Ignore the meter, but if there are any major flow violations, let me know. Otherwise, fire away.

Friend of mine wrote it - this is a courtesy posting.

Reviews

[Sami Khalil]

"I love big. I love hard. I love slow.

From beneath the trees who sleep,

I’ve grown to know who will lose their leaves this year,

and who will accompany me

to face a cold, brisk, and dreary.

I love with the eternal stars."
My favorite lines in this nice poem...Thank you for sharing...:)