April 25, 2016 – Sunshine Lane

How do I love thee?
I love thee with all
the heart and truth
and passion I can muster,
every single day.

Is it enough?
No, because I’m human.
I love selfishly,
I love imperfectly,
I love with feelings,
both mature and green.

My feelings are not
perfect or logical
all of the time.
I cannot promise
pure love even
most of the time.

What I can promise
is if I say I love you,
I do, in my human insufficiency.

What I can promise
is when God says He loves you,
He’s not human,
so He can and does
love you perfectly.

I love you,
but God always loves you more.

Today’s challenge was to write a poem that begins with a line from a another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. (Or, find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you). The idea is for the original to furnish a sort of backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel stuck just rewriting the original!. For example, you could begin, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” or “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” or “I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster,” or “they persevere in swimming where they like.” Really, any poem will do to provide your starter line – just so long as it gives you the scope to explore.

Peace and love,

D. Elaine Wood-Lane