How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears of all my life! - and if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
She went over to his apartment
I lost a boy
The answer came
Clutching her decision
And he said, Did you come here to tell me goodbye?
So she built a skyscraper of procrastination
And then she leaned out the twenty-fifth floor window
Of her reply
And she felt like an actress
Just reading her lines
When she finally said
Yes, it's really goodbye this time
And far below was the blacktop
And the tiny toy cars
And it all fell so fast
And it all fell so far
And she said:
You are a miracle but that is not all
You are also a stiff drink and I am on call
You are a party and I am a school night
And I'm lookin' for my door key
But you are my porch light
And you'll never know dear
Just how much I loved you
You'll probably think this was
Just my big excuse
But I stand committed
To a love that came before you
And the fact that I adore you
Is just one of my truths
What of the mother
Whose house is in flames
And both of her children
Are in their beds crying
And she loves them both
With the whole of her heart
But she knows she can only
Carry one at a time?
She's choking on the smoke
Of unthinkable choices
She's haunted by the voices
Of so many desires
She's bent over from the business
Of asking for forgiveness
While frantically running around
Putting out fires
But then what kind of scale
Compares the weight of two beauties
The gravity of duties
Or the groundspeed of joy?
Tell me what kind of gauge
Can quantify elation?
What kind of equation
Could I possibly employ?
And you'll never know, dear
Just how much I loved you
You probably think this was
Just my big excuse
But I stand committed
To a love that came before you
And the fact that I adore you
Is just one of my truths
So I - I'm going home
To please the one I so love pleasing
And I don't expect
He'll have much sympathy for my grieving
But I guess that this is the price
That we pay for the privilege
Of living for even a day
In a world with so many things
Worth believing in
- Ani DiFranco
Candyland
And now I look for him
Through every window
And behind every door
My son went down
This isn't trauma
It's not even drama
Anymore
I was born with a sad song in my mouth
He gave me a reason to sing it
It's like this boy took all my clear cold nights
Left me hot and dry
And when he falls I can't hear it
This isn't vodka
It's not even chocolate
I don't know how long I can stay straight
And still see straight
He gave me a reason to say it
Don't wait for pain
To find out you exist
Don't look for shame
You're better off without it
Life is unkind
This isn't candyland
I know you don't understand
It's so nice not to be ashamed
So nice not to be creeped out
Ice is unkind
'Til it freezes you enemies
Life is unkind
'Til it burns up your memories
Life is unkind
He gave me a reason to live it
-Kristin HershMarrow
Like a shot in the back
While you running from your lesson
Which might explain
Why years later all you could remember
Was the terror of the question
Plus, you weren't listening
You were stockpiling canned goods
Making a bomb shelter of our basement
And I can't believe you let the moral go by
While you were soaking in the product placement
Where was your conscience?
Where was your consciousness?
And where did you put all those letters
That you wrote to yourself
But could not address?
I'm a good kisser
And you're a fast learner
And that kinda thing could float us
For a pretty long time
Then one day you'd realize
You've memorized my phone number
And you'll call it and find
It's a disconnected line
Cuz I got tossed out the window of love's El Camino
And I shattered into a shower of sparks on the curb
You were smoking me
Weren't you?
Between your yellow fingers
You just inhaled and exhaled without saying a word.
Where was your conscience?
Where was your consciousness?
And where did you put all those letters
That you wrote to yourself
But could not address?
There's a smorgasbord of unspoken poisons
A whole childhood of potions
That are all bottled up
And so one by one I am dusting off labels
I am uncorking bottles and filling up cups
So go ahead and have a taste of your own medicine
And I'll have a taste of mine
But let's first toast to the lists
That we hold in our fists
Of the things that we promise to do
Differently next time
Cuz the answer came like a shot in the back
While you running from your lesson
Which might explain
Why years later all you could remember
Was the terror of the question
Plus, I'm not listening to you anymore
My head is too sore and my heart's perforated
And I'm mired in the marrow of my (well... ain't that) funny bone
Learning how to be alone and devastated
Where was my conscience?
Where was my consciousness?
And what do I do with all these letters
That I wrote to myself
But cannot address?
- Ani DiFranco