R.O.W.E. Week 5: 10 Love Poems Written by Women

I’m Brianna Kratz, a Chicago poet and literature enthusiast. In 2016, I'm reading only women authors for my Read Only Women Experiment (R.O.W.E.). For weekly updates on challenges, conversations, and monthly round-up lists of books I’ve read during the month, keep up with me via goodreads or Twitter. Glowing Pages. Photo courtesy of Andrew Gingerich

With Valentine’s Day coming up, love is in the air and for those romantics looking for love poetry, Shakespeare is the logical first choice. But why not go for some love poems written by women? Some are newer, and some more approachable than Shakespeare’s sonnets, so check out these love poems written by women!

1. “A Love Letter from the Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire” by Sarah Kay

   For someone unfamiliar with poetry, Sarah Kay is a great introduction. “A Love Letter from the Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire” is a sweet poem with great imagery.

2. “Dim Lady” by Harryette Mullen

   Harryette Mullen’s “Dim Lady” is a parody of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” and who can beat a line like “If her mop were Slinkys, dishwater Slinkys would grow on her noggin”?

3. “Sunday Night in the City” by Sharon Olds

   Sharon Olds makes me feel like there should be more poems with ice skating in them.

4. “Variation on the Word Sleep” by Margaret Atwood

   If thinking about Edward Cullen or Santa Claus watching you while you’re sleeping creeps you out, Margaret Atwood’s poem will make you feel better.

5. “I Want” by Kim Konopka

   For the sweetness of cohabitating and making room in your life when you’re in love, “I Want” will make you smile.

6. “It Is Marvellous…” by Elizabeth Bishop

   Love encourages us to change (hopefully for the better), and sometimes it can be electric.

7. “Decade” by Amy Lowell

   Thank you, Amy Lowell, for a poem that’s short and sexy.

8. “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

   I’ll bet you thought Shakespeare wrote this poem.

9. “Scale” by Helen Mort

   Helen Mort’s concrete imagery and playfulness reminds us of an approachable love.

10. “The Architecture of a Love Poem” by Alexandria Peary

    "It's now pink rubble, rhyming bricks, and an illicit balcony/the heart had such a fancy elevator/that it started to look like a bird cage…"

Whether you’re in love, wanting to be in love, or just feeling a little mushy this Valentine’s Day, read some poems by women and share them with your sweetie. Currently reading: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor