February 2025
Bio Note: “If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we are to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer.” This quote from Einstein moved me to offer poems that reflect this belief and the theme for February. Most recently I’ve had poems in Valley View Review, The Bronze Bird Review and Poets for Human Rights.
Caught by Your Love
Maybe it’s the patience you bring to all things
whether sautéing a filet or solving a problem
Perhaps it’s the way you listen when I can’t hear myself
so you can guide me to shore
Possibly it’s your beautiful eyes, reflecting pools
where I can see myself as cherished,
especially when I have forgotten to like who I am
It could be how the touch of your hand comforts me
back to sleep when I wake at three in the morning
fearful about some foolish thing that won’t
be a pebble ten years down the riverbed from now
Conceivably it’s the surging stream of your devotion
surrounding me in my most solitary moments
or the way you’ve taught me by your generosity
how I could afford to nurture myself
and you without skimping
It might be all these reasons and ones
I don’t yet understand even after all these years
that have hooked my heart and made me
so grateful to be caught
by your love
Originally published in Wedding Blessings Random House/Broadway Books
©2025 Arlene Gay Levine
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It's important. -JL