Love Poem

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2005

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Creek

The poet’s primary metaphor in “Love Poem” is a stream overflowing with winter melt.

The volume of the “creek / after thaw” (Lines 3-4) is high, and its movement fierce. Its banks are “dangerous” (Line 6), slipping into the current right beneath the feet of the poet and her beloved. It is also “our creek” (Line 3), the third person possessive, letting the reader know that this place, and this seasonal phenomenon, is familiar to the speaker and her beloved. Maybe it sits on their property, or runs close to their home. In any event, it is a part of the landscape they know and observe through the seasons. It is part of, and runs through, the landscape of their life together.

The creek runs high and fast after winter when the snow and ice melt. In this dramatic moment, it pulls everything that touches it into the current. The speaker describes a realistic image of rushing water full of “every twig / every dry leaf and branch” (Lines 8-9) in its flow. And then, suddenly, the creek carries away “every scruple” (Line 11). Scruples do not grow by creeks. A scruple is a moral or ethical consideration that fosters restraint. One’s scruples make up a kind of individual code of ethics that (theoretically) inhibit an individual from making certain decisions. A lack of scruples translates to a lack of inhibitions. The creek that will carry off “every scruple” (Line 11), is akin to a good love poem. One is swept away.

The Thaw

The speaker in “Love Poem” does not give the reader a lot of information about the “thaw” (Line 4), except to indicate that it is the reason the creek runs so furiously. Thaw refers to the seasonal melting of the ice and snow that accompanies winter. It signals the onset of spring. The thaw involves a transition from slow to fast, and from suspended to animated. Temperatures rise; things heat up and start to move.

A thaw is an event. In the case of a long-term relationship, a thaw could be one of any number of big life changes. Even if a transition is expected, as is the spring thaw, the heat and energy inspired by the event can get things moving faster and more precariously than is manageable.

The thaw can be seen as a liberation, as well. Unmoored from the ice, a body might be inclined to let gravity take it where it will. A “headlong” (Line 2) fall is both thrilling and dangerous. Water, like love, takes many forms, and passion, like water, can be both sustaining and destructive. The speaker imagines a poem overrun with passion, a poem as engulfing as a creek overwhelmed with the spring thaw.

Footing

Posture and footing play a significant role in “Love Poem.” The poem begins with a loss of footing with the use of the word “headlong” (Line 2). This position describes a kind of falling or propulsion, head-first, like a high-dive or the skeleton sledding event in the Winter Olympics. The posture denotes a kind of recklessness, but with purpose.

The speaker and her companion, however, stay on their feet. They “stand” (Line 5), though the bank is perilous. They observe as the edges of the stream erode. Soon, “even as we watch” (Line 15), the speaker says, they will have to “step back” (Line 18). Stepping is an action of caution, even responsibility. People step lightly around a tender or sensitive issue; they step up to a new job or obligation. In a difficult situation, one may take one step at a time. On the other hand, a loss of footing is often associated with emotional abandon—a romantic suitor sweeps the object of their desire off their feet.

Nowhere does the so-called love poem turn more prosaic than when the speaker says, “we must grab each / other or / get our shoes / soaked” (Lines 19-22). And yet, what those potentially sodden sneakers or loafers carry is an image full of feeling and meaning. One may ask, why would a speaker who desires to write a torrid love poem care about some damp shoes? And she does care, for both herself and for her beloved. They can pull each other to higher, if drier, ground.