I am madly in love, and I don’t even know her name

I am madly in love and I don’t even know her name,

All I can say is life will never be the same.

Joy is coursing from me in an un-ending stream,

And all I can do is scream, scream, SCREAM!

I look up at the stunning star studded sky,

And know that right now I’d be happy to die.

For I’m experiencing one of life's greatest gifts,

It really doesn’t get much better than this.

The staggering sunrise of a dawning day,

The birth of your child, or own wedding, say?

I’m drunk with elation and possibilities a’plenty,

Knowing that right now life really means for me,

To simply live, let the future bring what may,

Throw caution to the wind and embrace this way.

For even if it fails and cupid crashes in a heap,

These memories, sweet memories forever I’ll keep.

I wrote this poem in one 15 minute sitting (with most of it constructed while riding home) on 15 April 2010 after meeting one of my ex-girlfriends. It's an attempt to capture the passion and sheer madness of falling in love, and it seems relevant to me again.

Because of this it uses a simple  rhyming structure. What do you think of this, could it be changed or tightened to improve the poem?

The real question it's asking is: "is there any better feeling than this?"

What are your experiences of falling in love?

Can you relate to this poem?

The beautiful image of the dancer is an oil painting called "The passion of dance" by Drew Jacoby

A second poem on love:

Rapt in the soft retreat, my anxious breast

Pants still for something unpossessed;

Whence springs this sudden hope, this warm desire?

To what enjoyment would my soul aspire?

‘Tis love! extends my wishes and my care

Eden was tasteless ‘till an Eve was there.

Benjamin Church

I Fear

We are the masters of our universe,

And, having conquered all we care for of the terrestrial world,

Our gaze has turned aquatic.

Armed with our life saving breathing apparatus,

And curiosity coupled with greed,

We sink deeper into the clear depths,

Not stopping to look behind,

And realise that everything we have discovered,

We have destroyed.

As with the world above,

We are leaving our mark on the world below,

Bleached corals, small numbers of fish, missing turtles and sharks.

We are now destroying the sea,

The only benefit beneath the ocean,

Is most marine life has not yet learned to fear us.

I wrote this poem while diving in beautiful Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2010, where my brother took these photos. It was the most beautiful and untouched place I have ever dived but, even there, there are some signs of what humanities actions have meant for the reefs and marine life.

This reminded me of places like Indonesia where, although beautiful, the damage is shocking in some places. 

We have destroyed so much of the world and I worry that now we are moving on the oceans.

What do you think?

Love as Charity (1 Corinthians 13)

Another poem by British guest Michael Uriel who looks set to be a reoccurring contributor:

I used to think love was where it’s at,
And wonder why it stayed at just that.

Love at a distance no touching the misfit,
But with Jesus’ example that just didn’t sit.

Then I was told a true piece of gold,
The Bible’d said something else in translations of old.

One of the meanings of ‘love’ was also ‘charity’,
I thought more and this made sense to me.

Charity demands action and care for the poor,
It’s greater than a feeling of that be sure.

So much more than simple empathy,
An activity really charity should be.

A hug and a hand for the homeless,
A loaf of bread for the breadless.

A cloak for the cloakless,
For charity can do no less.

For not simple love but deeper charity,
Is now at the core of what drives me.

Michael Uriel: I wrote this piece in an attempt to understand a conversation with a friend where he explained that the word 'Love' is used in English translations of the Bible had numerous different translations in the original Hebrew and Greek.

In early Greek for example there were four words that are all translated as 'Love': agápe, éros, philía, and storgē, each with a slight different meaning.

What I worry is that in the modern translations we have lost this depth of meaning, and all to often lost the action that must be associated with true Love. You cannot, for example, truly Love someone in need without feeling empathy (not sympathy) and if possible trying to do something to help.

I subtitled this piece 1 Corinthians 13 because I think this is one of the best verses in the Bible at explaining what true Love should look like.

What are your thoughts? Am I way off the mark?