The Other Side of Love

[Hawkman]

Bitterness Unleashed

When you take up with a girl
Don’t tell her you’re a poet;
Never tell her that you cry,
She’ll just despise you for it.

She craves romance, she’ll tell you,
What she really means is wealth.
She’ll then relieve you of it
With her greatest asset - stealth.

Never let your love take hold
And never let it wound you,
Don’t surrender to its curse
And give it all you value.

Keep your heart in places safe
And Keep your feelings hidden,
Don’t be gulled by pretty face
And don’t do as you’re bidden.

Don’t tell the girl you love her,
Or tell her that you’re smitten,
For if you do you’re in the poo;
She’ll take more than she’s given.

For if she knows you love her,
You equip her with a glaive,
This weapon then she uses
So you just become her slave.

And when your purse is empty
She’ll toddle off for certain,
Cast her web on other fools;
You grieve behind your curtain.

So heed you this my warning;
Trust not in pretty faces,
Avoid then all the heartache
And spare yourself the traces.

Keep your heart free of the scars
That mark a man a sucker.
Careless you should be with birds,
A hard-faced mother- Oh dear...

[blazeofglory]

You are very realistic in your expression of love. Of course when one is gullible in love to someone of course one is likely to fall victims to the person.

Of course love is more to do with sex, romance not purity of hear at all; for what we call love is sheer infatuation.

Had you not delimited your poem within a boundary of rhymes it would have been much better; for rhymes simply limp poetry

[Hawkman]

Hi, blaze, and thanks for your comments.

I agree that relationships based purely on physical attraction and sex are not love (in the deepest sense) and definitely fall under the heading of infatuation.

However, I don’t think I can agree with your sentiment that rhyming schemes hobble poetry. Poetry functions on many levels and in many forms. The rhyming scheme requires a degree of skill and discipline and is the framework upon which the thought or motive may be expressed. I do not always write in rhymes though, but on this occasion, to have expressed the sentiments in free verse, I believe, would have made the poem into a depressing diatribe which would not engage the reader.

But presented as it is, the motive behind the poem is still expressed and communicated, but with a degree of humour which (I hope) does not repel the reader.

[paperleaves]

What is unfortunate it the fact that I laughed several times at various lines in this poem and then staggered back in disbelief that what you are presenting is not humor--it is the honest-to-god truth!
How striking some of these examples are--don't tell her you're a poet--I can almost hear a poet half-chuckling half-cringing in the conjure of a painful memory while saying that.

How inviting this is into the male psyche and revealing of what is becoming (yet again, unfortunately) the common female psyche of this generation.

love
Kate

[Hawkman]

Paper, you relieve me. I had visions of every female poet on the forum beating a path to my door with a handy rope and a bar-b-q.

I'm especially pleased it made you laugh, even in disbelief. You are my eternal heroine.

Live and be well - H

[AuntShecky]

I looked up "glaive." According to the dictionary, it's a sword, especially a broadsword.

Why can't I be your "eternal heroine" as well?

[PrinceMyshkin]

What gives me extra pleasure from this, aside from the skillful sing-song voice, is the belief that in the past and now you didn't/don't mean a word of it!

[Hawkman]

Hello Auntie,

Of course you’re one of my eternal heroines.

The definition of glaive seems to depend on which dictionary you use, My understanding was that it was a bladed pole-arm like a halberd but either way, it’s sharp, pointy and designed to cause extreme damage.

My prince, whatever gave you that idea? ;)

Pax vobiscum

[PrinceMyshkin]

My prince, whatever gave you that idea? ;)

Pax vobiscum

a) You're a man.
b) You have a lively, often frisky imagination, co-signs of a romantic.
c) You're a man.

[Hawkman]

It's a fair cop, guv, you got me bang to rights. - H

[PrinceMyshkin]

It's a fair cop, guv, you got me bang to rights. - H

As the saying goes: "Scratch a cynic and you find an idealist."

[Hawkman]

In truth I’m drawn to indicate
that Chaucer, in his wisdom,
has told of this distracting subject
much more skilfully than I.
For the tale of the Wife of Bath
reveals what women, in their hearts,
desire most, the same command
and sovereignty, of husbands
as their lovers.
Therefore should a man
be so content, that he be ruled,
deferring to his wife’s dominion,
he will know true bliss, at home at least.
So come now girls, don’t you be shy,
let’s hear your take, the reason why,
our lives a living hell you make.
This challenge I lay down,
that in this strand the battle of the sexes
shall be fought according to this rule;
that humour be the primary weapon
and that each submission
should contain a grain of truth.
Thus may we all have fun and
better understand relationships,
one with another. :)

[PrinceMyshkin]

that each submission
should contain a grain of truth.

Indeed! Or even TWO grains! Wonderful flow throughout this.

[virginiawang]

I believe love is not how you described it in the first poem, the other side of love. Love has only one side. However, your poem reads smoothly and professionally.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I believe love is not how you described it in the first poem, the other side of love. Love has only one side. However, your poem reads smoothly and professionally.

I salute you for your defense of love (in the ideal sense). However, if you re-read the first of these poems and consider it as parody, you might not be so alarmed by it. As I believe I responded earlier scratch a cynic which is the persona Hawkman has adopted in this poem and you will find an idealist.

(Only please don't tell him that I outed him.)