Valentine's Day: A Look Back

S P Clark
2 days ago
4 min read

Over the years S P Clark has written poems around the theme of love, some of them to actually celebrate the day. Two of his collections (The Journey to Love, and Two Men, One Love) truly pay homage to that feeling. Today we are sharing 5 poems from over the years that focus on this theme. Happy Valentine's Day.

Let's start with Valentine's Day which was written in 2021. A bitter take on being alone on the day of love.

Valentine's Day
Look, how happy they are; the smug bastards in love
Surrounded by balloons while rose petals float in the bath
He’s been a total prick all year, but she’s falling for it
So, they’re really in love, are they? Don’t make me laugh!

Look at their excitement; those whores for little gifts
Opening the plastic box and he goes down on one knee
Saying ‘yes’ and down on her knees is how she’ll spend the night
The sly Romeo! How lucky can one girl be?

Oh yes…oh yeah…

Look, how virile they are; they fuck to end the chat
Expressions they scream in pleasure make a change from the pain
Grasped his boyfriends throat but now together in melded sweat
So, those bruises from June don’t count? Use your damn brain!

Look at them pretending; the shit they share for show
Disclosing all on Insta, become Facebook official
The façade of the high-life from their backstreet tenement
Pathetic display! Are they so superficial?

Oh no…oh damn…

Look, how bitter I am; a jealous bitch alone
Snivelling at the empty seat while eating on my own
I recall falling deep in love and won’t admit it’s gone
So, where is my valentine now? The great unknown!

Look at me revealing; this pissed-up lonely bloke
Needing to know what happened and wanting to understand
There’s no one to warm the right side of my bed, flesh to flesh
No candles, listening to Pink’s “U + Ur Hand”.

Oh me…oh my…
Just me…Just I.

2. Last year S P Clark looked at the difficulties that can sometimes face members of the LGBTQ+ community when wanting to celebrate Valentine's Day with your loved one.

The Hidden Valentine
I want to take him out to a restaurant
Shower my love upon his heart
I want to hold his hand across the table
Capture perfection in fine art.

I want to go with him to a sandy beach
Rest in his arms and watch the waves
I want to collect the shells; skim stones with him
Satisfy him in all he craves.

Instead we are nervous of showing the world
Abuse was aimed last time we tried
We stay locked indoors; a hidden Valentine
It’s wounding when freedom’s denied.

In 2020 S P Clark was commisioned to create a series of 'poster poems' for a friend's new house. There were 10 poems. 1 for each room. One of them was called Love
and can be read below.

Exquisitely Nurtured was written about a lover and is featured in Two Men, One Love. A short poem filled with heart. The collection is a true celebration of love and would suit any bookcase!

Exquisitley Nurtured

Just as Meštrović sculpted his clay mould to pour the bronze and reveal the perfection of Saint Jerome, with the tender care only a father can bring…

Just as Rodin trained his marble to reveal the perfect body and elegant face of Eternal Springtime, with the keenness of eye only a lover can see…

Just as Whiteread reduced her subjects to minimalistic beauty, as in Embankment, where I was struck dumb by the simple love only a mother can craft…

So too, Akiel, were you exquisitely nurtured by a talent so singular that I look at you in awe, listen to you in awe, touch your skin in awe.

High on a plinth, glinting,

Glint in your eye,

Like the work of art you are.

We end this little back with a poem from 2021. This poem is also called Love.

Love

It’s like waking up in a dream

Floating on clouds of candy floss

Like tiptoeing through a field of fragile hearts that are thumping uncontrollably

Seeing through rose tinted glasses

Ride through the sky like Helios.

Those horses driving the chariot and leaving a skywriters message hanging

Amour declared in the sweetest, most delicate of fruit shared on a morning feast

Consuming and devouring

Watching in anticipation of the stain her lips will leave on the crystal glass

That tender crimson mark; soothing eyes that in a snap could subdue a raging beast.

A Basilisk with good intent

Imploring the heart to stop when so overwhelmed by the emotion of her gaze

Broken to pieces of a kiss

The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue and the taste of her saliva lingering

Breathed upon by love’s noxious haze.

Ishtar answered the silenced prayers that are held deep within the sleeping soul and mind

Fanning the cautious flames of lust

Goddess of all earthly goddesses who impulsively rush forward with beauty

Elegance of youth on her side

Coveting someone’s arms of safety before the talent of aging starts to rust.

Together with the morning star

Enwrapped when the evening star comes

Day after day basking in bliss

Glowing when in the setting sun

Drowning deep in the rapture like Ophelia never knowing what grief becomes.

This endless boost of romantic rhapsody will, mermaid-like, bear her from the depths

Until the garments become sodden and drag her down leaving memories and hearts

Hearts that beat like hummingbird wings and palms that moisten like dew in the morning light

Desire floods the mind and all thoughts are of stolen moments and memories to make

Struck by Cupid’s entwining darts.

Chastity has no place between the silky sheets where love’s ruby red blood is spilt

Irrepressible sexual cravings that the couple powerlessly embrace

Incapable of resisting

Connected from first sight, there was nothing to do, the synapses redirected

Unyielding satisfaction of the reciprocation written across her face.