5 Poems, Books, and other Writings on Love
In celebration of February's “Loving” campaign, we have compiled a list of poems, books, and other writings that encapsulate love as action. February is traditionally the month of external, romantic love (and Black history!), but this month we challenge ourselves to extend loving internally and to our communities every day and every month of the year. Let these writings guide you on your journey towards loving, whether that be how you choose to show yourself love, how you love your romantic partners, and/or how you love your friends and family. Here’s to celebrating love as an action, and as your birthright. <3
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
All About Love is a necessary read if you yearn to become a better lover to yourself and society. It offers radical new ways to think about love in our modern society, with hooks masterfully offering personal anecdotes and philosophical musings to guide readers to a vision of what true love looks like. Love, as hooks demonstrates, is the key to ending struggle in our society, something that is so often missing from our public, professional, and even private lives. This book will not only lead you to a better understanding of where your conceptualizations of love come from, and perhaps how they have failed you, but also how we can all use love to move forward.
“love isn’t” by Pat Parker
Pat Parker was a renowned and influential Black lesbian poet and performer. Her writing unapologetically intertwines the personal and the political, two things which can never be separated as Parker’s work so often demonstrates. I find this poem to be particularly powerful, one of those works that will never ever leave me. “love isn’t” shows us that love is not simply the fantastical romantic images we are fed by various media, but instead it involves fighting for ourselves, our community, and standing up to injustices. This love is not pretty, it is full of rage, but this love is necessary. As Parker so eloquently writes:
Like the Singing Coming off the Drums: Love Poems by Sonia Sanchez
This collection of poems was gifted to me by someone I hold so dearly, and if you are looking to show a friend, romantic partner, or anyone else in your life how much they mean to you, I could not recommend this book enough. Sanchez poetically weaves every image and feeling associated with love throughout this collection in a way that is unforgettable. Love poems take many forms in this book, revealing love’s painful, dreamy, fiery, gloomy, and beautiful existence. While much of these poems can be read through a romantic lens, Sanchez does not fail to bring in the political characteristics of love, particularly for Black voices, and pays homage to many Black icons. Here is one of my favorite haikus found on page 41 below:
my womb is a dance
of leaves sweating swift winds
i laugh with guitars.
Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker 1974-1989 by Pat Parker and Audre Lorde, edited by Julie R. Enszer
Pat Parker and Audre Lorde first met in 1969 and began to regularly exchange letters five years later. This collection of letters offers a unique glimpse into the powerful sisterhood that emerged between the two. Lorde and Parker share everything from thoughts on the state of the world, to personal news, and periods when both lived with cancer. Sister Love highlights the importance of love in friendship, of love in supporting one another, and of exchanging powerful ideas and knowledge. Perhaps this collection will inspire you to handwrite letters to your dearest friends and sisters. Writing is an act of love, which Parker and Lorde undoubtedly demonstrate.
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
If Beale Street Could Talk is a 1974 masterpiece by the iconic James Baldwin. Baldwin offers a powerful glimpse into Black love in Harlem. He sheds light on the complexities of Black love, showing the pain of love in the face of injustice. The story is seen through the eyes of Tish, a 19 year-old-girl, who is in love with Fonny, a 22 year-old-sculptor who is the father of her child. With the hope of marriage in the future, their lives are disrupted when Fonny is falsely accused of raping a woman and is subsequently imprisoned. Their families work to fight back against this injustice, with Baldwin showing the range of what love means, especially for Black communities.
