"Allow Me To Love You" by Gene Hodge

Allow Me To Love You

Gene Hodge

Allow me to love you

the way I cherish

my books of poetry,

hold you in my hands and 

stare at you with the passion

of a child’s first Christmas gift,

touch you with the tenderness

of my dreams;

and after you resolve yourself

to my trust . . .

I’ll open your sacred life

and loosely as a leaf falling,

touch each page,

live what your heart

reveals to me in nouns and verbs

of your imagination.

I’ll sit and hold you in the quiet of morning, 

listen to you

beneath shades of lamp light in the mellow night,

carry you faithfully through the day

and share you with only the park bench

or some oak tree 

that loves the touch of my back.

I want you 

more than an empty page

needs the written word,

more than a book cover seeks its title.

And with a stroke of this pen . . .

I give you my heart—

bound in chapters,

bold, underlined sentences.

Poet’s Notes:  In this poem, I wanted the reader to feel special--so special that a poet would compare the reader to his book of poems.

Editor’s Note:  Even the best poems about romantic love are tough sells these days, but this one comes across as sincere, nuanced, and passionate, and has a beautiful poetic conceit.