{"id":657,"date":"2015-02-11T09:50:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T14:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lyndalambert.com\/?p=657"},"modified":"2015-02-11T18:28:51","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T23:28:51","slug":"its-a-question-of-love-happy-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/its-a-question-of-love-happy-valentines-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Journal Assignment #4 – A Love Letter _"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blog_2015_WBIV_ValentineHeartFancy\"<\/a>\u00a0In February 2000, I was asked to write a couple of “love poems” by a friend who is a jazz singer. Bettie Douglas, of \u00a0Douglas Art Gallery in New Brighton, PA, \u00a0 was \u00a0to give a program on the topic of LOVE \u00a0at the Merrick Art Gallery. She wanted me to write a couple of poems she could use as part of her performance. I did write two of them. \u00a0 Mid-way through the concert she performed the poems. My husband had accompanied me to the concert but he did not know anything about my secret. \u00a0You can imagine his surprise when she began to speak the poems to him that night. He was all smiles. I was delighted to give him this Valentine’s gift of love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I \u00a0thought today about writing this blog article and wanted to write about Valentine’s Day. I remembered the poems, and looked back into my archives and found them. \u00a0I’ll give you just \u00a0one \u00a0today with this article.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"blog_2015_WBIV_Photo_ValentineHearts\"<\/a>Walking by Inner Vision –<\/p>\n

Journal Assignment #4:<\/p>\n

Write a love letter to someone in your life. It will be\u00a0 an actual letter, or maybe you want to try your hand at a poetic love letter. \u00a0It can be “Free Verse” or any other poetic form you like. \u00a0After you create your Valentine verse or letter, give it to the one you wrote if about or for! \u00a0Share your love this week during Valentine’s Day celebrations. \u00a0Your creative work will be a cherished treasure for someone you love.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Question of Love<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What do I see when I look at my love?<\/p>\n

Who is this man I call my best friend?<\/p>\n

How many years has it been since he first won my heart?<\/p>\n

It was a spring morning when he placed a yellow wild flower in my hand<\/p>\n

I was only a high school girl and knew little about life<\/p>\n

and had no idea that he was \u00a0the special one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like that yellow wild\u00a0 flower, our love was a very fragile one<\/p>\n

a delicate struggle to find the path to our love<\/p>\n

We had so much energy then, in the youth of our life<\/p>\n

we never knew then what it means to be a true friend<\/p>\n

some\u00a0 days it was a difficult task to just reach out my hand<\/p>\n

because I wanted to protect my most private and tender heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wondered what he would do if I offered him my heart<\/p>\n

would he dash it to pieces and leave me for another one?<\/p>\n

or, would he hold me close to his body and reach for my hand?<\/p>\n

Would this young smiling\u00a0 boy become the husband I now love?<\/p>\n

or, would this hot-blooded romantic youth only want a short-term friend?<\/p>\n

And, what I really longed for then was to share my entire life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wanted someone to talk with about my dreams\u00a0 on the journey of life<\/p>\n

and I needed to know when he looked at me he would see my heart<\/p>\n

that he would be the special man who would be both lover and friend<\/p>\n

to give me strength when I needed it and be the long-term, committed one<\/p>\n

who wanted to keep me warm on a frigid winter\u2019s night and surround me with love<\/p>\n

when I embraced his comforting body and held his strong hand.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nearly forty years have passed by since I held the yellow flower in my open hand<\/p>\n

How is it that we travel so quickly through the daydreams and night time\u2019s of our life?<\/p>\n

And, looking back I don\u2019t quite seem to remember how our friendship turned to love<\/p>\n

or the day when I knew for sure he would give me his whole heart<\/p>\n

or when exactly it was that I knew\u00a0\u00a0I was his only one<\/p>\n

but I do know that I have enjoyed the years I have lived with my best friend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, I wonder what my life would have been like if I had never found this dear friend.<\/p>\n

Who would have wiped away the tears from my eyes or reached out for my hand?<\/p>\n

Would I ever have had\u00a0 so many days filled with friends and a family like this one?<\/p>\n

He has given me all that a man can give a woman – he has given me his entire life.<\/p>\n

What would my years\u00a0 have been like if he had not given me his heart?<\/p>\n

And, who would I have become if I had never known his enduring love?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to answer one of these questions about the nature of romance and life<\/p>\n

for we can never\u00a0 know when we stretch out our hand if there will be a lover\u2019s heart<\/p>\n

and a lifetime friend when we go on a quest to find answers to explore \u00a0the question of\u00a0 love.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

“It’s a Question of Love,” was composed in\u00a0\u00a02000. today, \u00a0fifteen years after I wrote it, I\u00a0am still in love with my husband, Bob. \u00a0Love isn’t magic and we are not soul mates. I think that is a myth. Love and marriage take lots of work, and willing partners to do the work to make it last and become more meaningful through the years. \u00a0 Like the true meaning of love, we \u00a0worked \u00a0on making our lives into a a trusting and loving relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond. That is where God comes in, to help us be the people he made us to be – two loving souls who grow together through the years.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

This is a poem written in the SESTINA form. \u00a0If you want to learn how to write a SESTINA yourself, you can refer to an earlier post on this blog. Here is the link to another sestina I published in October 2014: \u00a0http:\/\/lyndalambert.com\/shelter-from-the-wind\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Lynda J. Lambert, Feb.2000<\/p>\n

Copyright 2000 and 2015. \u00a0 All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Blog_2015_Photo_ValentineTree\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking by Inner Vision Journal Assignment #4: Write a love letter to someone in your life. It can be written like an actual letter, or maybe you want to try your hand at a poetic love letter.<\/p>\n Continue reading →<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trusting-god"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blog_2015_Photo_ValentineTree.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gbwn-aB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/tanka-lesson-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":657,"position":0},"title":"More Tanka – Part 3","author":"Lynda Lambert","date":"April 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If you love Nature, the changing Seasons, and life, you will love the tanka form of poetry. 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