It is making love, no hands.
That's how Cleveland poet Sara Holbrook describes the act of communicating your love in verse.
Holbrook, who has written a poem titled "How To Write A Love Poem," says that just about anyone can do it. So this year, instead of buying that Hallmark card with matching red envelope, why not try what Holbrook calls "expressing in words what would otherwise be hokey"?
Exactly how is that done?
According to Holbrook, you begin with a yellow legal pad. Jot down what you like about the intended reader. Think small, she advises, and avoid clichés. Instead of saying, for example, that your sweetheart is "as pretty as a picture," write about how "her hair falls over her eye."
When you're done, put the poem under your pillow and sleep on it — literally. The following morning, reread it. Select the thoughts that are most important and include them in your final copy. Don't exceed two pages. If there's still more to say, write a follow-up poem later in the year.
Next, get a notecard that is blank inside but attractive on the outside. With your favorite pen, write out the poem. If it is being mailed, choose a special stamp. Finally, mail it out, slip it under the door or hand it to the one you love on that day of amoré.
Holbrook, whose book "Now Isn't She Ladylike" came out last month, has been in a relationship with the same man for four years. Her poems for him are a treat — a treat for him to read and for her to write. "Time to write is alone time, time to daydream," she says. "And great things have come from daydreaming." Great things like Valentine's Day love poems.
