"Love is Patient, Love is Kind"

When asked what love was, Paul of Taurus famously said "Love is patient, love is kind..." Love is a word that is used in many ways and in many contexts in our culture. In honor of Paul's definition of love, here are some poems that honor the importance of living a life of patience and kindness.

                                                                                                February 14, 2014

Mary Beth,

You are patient

You are kind

You are patient

With Zack and with Nick

When they bring worries to you

When they argue, fight

You listen to their troubles

Now all will be well

You are kind

When people are mean

Your peaceful heart loves them back

When ignorance comes

Deep breaths you offer and smile

Refusing to judge

Love is patient

Love is kind

You are Love, Mary Beth

You are Love

  

Poems have rhythm. That's what makes them poems and not just collections of random words. Some poems rhyme, but many don't. This poem gets it's rhythm from the syllabication or "sounding" of the words. It's based on the number of sounds or syllables in each line. Pay attention to the numbers in parentheses. They are the number of syllables in each line:

                                                                             February 14, 2014

Mary Beth,

You are patient

You are kind

You are patient

With Zack and with Nick(5)

When they bring worries to you (7)

When they argue, fight (5)

You listen to their troubles (7)

Now all will be well (5)

You are kind

When people are mean (5)

Your peaceful heart loves them back (7)

When ignorance comes(5)

Deep breaths you offer and smile (7)

Refusing to judge (5)

Love is patient

Love is kind

You are Love, Mary Beth

You are Love

Now it's your turn. Write a Love is Patient, Love is Kind poem of your own. It can be for anyone you know who shows patience and kindness. It must follow the pattern above. Bonus opportunities: Create a selfie video and post it to your blog under the text. Share the poem by reading it aloud and videorecording yourself reading it to the person for whom you wrote it.

Here's another example:

Nick

You are patient

You are kind.

You are patient

When you walk the dog

Without being asked at all

When Gina tells you

Stuff that you already know

When you wait to talk

You are kind

When Zack calls you names

And  you want to wring his neck

When kids say dumb stuff

And you refuse to go there

You rise up above

Love is patient

Love is kind

You are Love, Nick

You are Love



Video of me reading my poem