Poetry Corner: Love in Ceiling Tiles

When your poem isn’t good enough for the lit sup, it goes here

So much love sparked by so much ceiling / Brett Nielsen

Love in Ceiling Tiles

Will you hang with me, lay on my floor with me?

In silence, music, or laughter we could be.

The carpet fibers welcome our grazing fingers.

Feel how the static shocks and lingers.

Look up; see constellations in the textured ceiling tiles.

Find stars — the glimmering remains of love’s denials.

Look, there’s a cow, a dragon, a face — can you see?

There on my basement floor, imagining, we feel free.

Hours we’ll spend, lying on our backs,

We feel so romantic, with dreamy playlists streaming from our Macs.

The hands on my old clock will circle around its little sun

Tick, tock, its measured work is never done.

What a romantic pair we would make.

An odd couple the best actors couldn’t fake

Like a couple of toads just waiting on the door mat

Or maybe an old man and his scraggly house cat.

Love, they say, is blind, is tough, is fiery hot.

But from what I hear, what I see, maybe it’s not.

It may simply be a matter for your interpretation,

Sure it could be special, unique, and cause for celebration.

But it could also be an everyday sight with just a little extra musing

Either way, with love — we must agree — there can be no losing.

It grows in your room, your shoes, and maybe your kitchen

Love is an anatomical part you can’t just be ditchin’

Love is your comforted heart, your toes painted with new nail polish,

It’s your stomach filling with delicious food it’s lovingly ready to demolish

See the grounds we could cover

To express the variance of a lover?

So hearts, spring open to see the love in your room

Your dusty bookshelf could be in full bloom

Or your desk could be holding a special secret

Reveal it, and your life could be free of fret

You see, you must keep your eyes open and receptive to love

Do so, please do so, for you’ll feel ‘free as a dove.’

You’ll uncover treasures buried by the mundane

Yes, this love you find — this is what’ll keep you sane.

First find appreciation to uncover your lover.

Imagine the awareness you will discover.

For no one who lives in squares and triangles

Can positively ignore their angles.

These corners extend into a fortuitous path

Where opportunity lurks, without variance or math.

Truly you will find love if you give yourself the chance

To explore the stars in your ceiling, or the movement of a new dance.

Friends, family, bikes, books, tents, and drinks

Whichever you prefer, such everyday choices are the true links

Which we need to forge happy, balanced, and lush living.

Keep those around, and love will only keep giving.