5 Love Poems for Hearts Already Captured

So much of what we capture in poetry is strong emotion. There’s a lot of love going around, but love poetry often seems to gravitate to the less happy spectrum of romance. If I had a penny for every poem about heartbreak I’ve ever read (or written myself, I’m just the same as you), I’d be a very rich woman.

There are a lot of love poems floating around in the literary atmosphere. Even though the library of poetry focused on love could probably outmatch the Library of Congress five times over, why aren’t there more love poems for people in committed relationships?

Though I’ll sometimes joke with my writer friends that we wordsmiths are just bad at relationships, I think the real reason is that we turn to the pen when we’re lost in emotion. Too often, we let ourselves be swept away by strong negative emotions rather than strong positive emotions.

There’s space for that poetry in the literary atmosphere, that much is absolutely true. However, there’s also a time and a place to celebrate lighter, happier emotions in verse.

Below, here's a small collection of some love poems I've written to my then boyfriend, now husband. When I first wrote these, I was still using my maiden name. I decided to leave them as-is since it's a beautiful artifact of how my story had unfolded.

Upbeat love poems are in short supply, so I feel obligated to remedy that shortage. This is a simple little piece about how even very early in my relationship with my husband, there was an ease and comfort that was so remarkable.

I don’t think we take enough time to appreciate sleep and the simple, silent moments we share with our loved ones. Sometimes, they’re some of the loveliest we have.

My favorite reaction to this poem was when someone commented on the little tone switch I did here. It’s a little bit of an emotional bait and switch; it feels like it’s going to start out dark, but comes to a warmer place instead.

I originally wrote this poem all the way back in 2019. At the time, I was working at a startup and had a hefty commute. Time was a very finite resource and it really made me appreciate the moments I could steal away with my partner.

As for the fantasy imagery, I think that's just my romantasy nerd coming out!

Things grow slowly, much like flowers and plants. I used a bit of organic imagery in the design of this one to represent that idea. My partner and I had a very long courtship. The loose timeline we vaguely danced around for marriage was delayed for years upon years by COVID. We finally got married in 2014, not long before our 9th anniversary.

When I wrote this poem, I won't lie, I was feeling a little bit antsy. We were approaching our five-year anniversary, which was in July 2020. Timelines are different for everyone and I don't want to be snotty or perscriptive here, but I personally had hoped to get clearer on plans around this time. While it took longer than we'd originally imagined, we took our time wedding planning and had the most beautiful day together.

Thank you for reading my words. I hope these happier, lighter love poems give you a little brightness and warmth.