Iowa City poet Caleb Rainey released his second collection of poems titled "Heart Notes" this week. The book dives into the ups and downs of relationships through a range of love poems.
"These poems felt very close to me, important to me, part of who I am, that it just needed to be out," Rainey says.
Rainey, who publishes under the name "The Negro Artist" joins Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe to discuss the inspirations and motivations behind his writing. He also reads several poems on air.
A SIMPLE LOVE POEM
(a selection from "Heart Notes" by The Negro Artist)
I'm so in love I may beed a doctor
after a fall like that.
I'm so in love every song on the radio reminds me of you
so in love cliches don't make me cringe anymore.
I'm so in love that if love were a house
I'd never leave,
just curl up on your soft-lip couch
next to your fireplace hart.
I'm so in lov your mouth feels like a metaphor
the meeting of meaning and magic.
I'm so in love outer space seems smaller
than your smile, each of your teeth shining
like stars to guiding me home.
I'm so in love I think of your milky way skin,
and want to explore it from end to end
but spend most of my time in the soal system of your
thoughts.
I'm so in love I think of your laugh when
I hear something funny,
like your joy and mine are twin suns
orbiting each other. Where one is,
the other is sure to be close.
I'm so in love that waking up to
see sunlight on your face
seems like a new kind of day dream.
I'm so in love that I find myself thinking about
flowers. I've never wanted to be a fardener,
afraid to love something that can't love me back
but now I dream about planting daffodils
so I can admire them dancing in daylight.
I'm so in love each day seems to bloom into a thank you.
I'm so in love smiling now seems
involuntary,like breathing
or joy.
I'm so in love I forgot
what a secret is.
So in love I'm learning
new words like warmth, trsust, full.
So in love that whenever I learn something new
I want to share it with you.
I'm so in love
I want to share everything with you.
My food? Take it.
My words? Have them.
My heart? Don't drop it.
