Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing the full collection of all the winning poems that will be published in ‘Marriott Love Poems – a collection inspired by love, weddings and romance’
Today, we’re sharing our East Midlands’ winning poem by Hayley Gait-Golding in Derbyshire. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have…
Happy Friday!
Dear Heart - By Hayley Gait-Golding
Dear Heart,
I'd like it if you'd tell me
How you measure love.
Do you deal in ounces and quarters?
Or stroke it with kid gloves?
How do you pick who gets it
Because I'd really like a say
And why is it that some people
Get more and more each day?
Another thing I'd like to know
Is how love measures time?
Is it founded in an instant?
Then lasts a whole lifetime?
Does it grow and grow your whole life through
So I have more and more
Or is there just a set amount
You get at birth then store?
What happens if it’s stolen?
Or if I cease to love
Does it all come back untarnished?
With interest on the above.
How can I know its importance?
Do you give it certain ranks?
Could I say that’s 1st or 2nd class?
Like I do with postage stamps.
Is true love like in stories?
Like old fashioned fairy tales
Cinderella meets Prince Charming
And only love prevails
Why is it then that nowadays?
Love sometimes takes the course
Of starting off with marriage
But ending in divorce
Is love equal in proportions?
For families and for friends
For husbands, wives and children
Where does it ever end?
To let me know what’s going on
Lets strike a little deal
Beat slowly for the phoneys
And fast if it’s for real!
By Hayley Gait-Golding
Allestree, Derby
"Dear Heart" is the best poem, so far, by a long way. It's subtle, delicately balanced, nice rhythm, enough rhyme, simple structure; good length; the fact that the tone is set in questions, somehow leads you in. Love it.
ReplyDeleteWow what a fantastic conversation with your heart... flat over your poetry especially these lines, To let me know what’s going on
ReplyDeleteLets strike a little deal
Beat slowly for the phoneys
And fast if it’s for real!"......
You must go for book publishing for sure!
I felt inspired to honor another of the 78 organs in the style of Hayley Gait-Golding.
ReplyDeleteDear Spleen,
I’d like it if you’d tell me
How you immunize.
Do you battle foreign bodies?
Or gently stroke those guys?
How do you pick a parasite
Because I’d really like a say
And why doesn’t my immunity
Grow more and more each day?
Another thing I’d like to know
Is how lymph nodes align
Just randomly under armpits?
Or as an interpolated spline?
Does intestinal flora grow my whole life
So I have more and more
Can I stock up on kombucha
Fill the refrigerator door?
What happens if it’s stolen?
Or accidentally removed?
Does it mean my doctor thinks
One lymph less makes me improved?
How can I know the nature
Of the particles you screen?
Do you give them names like toxic
When they make my skin turn green?
Are activated lymphocytes
As romantic as they sound?
Will they fill my head with macrophanges
Sweep my feet from the ground?
Why is it then that nowadays
Blood-borne pathogens have a way
Of starting off as tiny
And then helping cancer stay.
Are antibodies equal in proportion
For parasites and pathogens
For viruses, and so on
(where does it ever end?)
To let me know what’s going on
My most important organ friend,
Protect me from invading ick
And defend me until the end.