Arianna Pozzuoli (b. 1980)
SELECTED POEMS
Young Love
Some Shakespeare-inspired advice to some young sweethearts.
What are you waiting for?
Tell her you are destined to be two star-crossed lovers.
Show the handprints you made for her in the sandbox,
let her know that each palm is spread out far and wide,
that your love for her are like to two giant hi –fives
waiting to get hitched into an applause.Tell her she teaches the torches to burn bright.
Hold up two yellow crayons from the colouring box,
tell her your favourite thing to draw is the glow in her cheeks,
and that the sunshine in her smile is brighter than a house covered in Christmas lights.The course of true love never runs smooth
so dedicate every goosebump that rides up your arm to her.
When the hair on the back of your neck stands up,
it’s actually warning your knees that you’re about to fall.Tell her the earth has music for those who listen.
Go on and show her the plant you are growing from inside a styrofoam cup, raise it to her ear.
Ask if she can hear how loud the symphony of one seed can be.To thine own self be true.
Tell her when you grow up you want to live on a swing set
and climb the monkey bars to work.
But if she would rather live on the monkey bars and ride a swing to work that would be okay too,
just as long as you’re both moving.
Because you can’t move or be moved by each other
if you never move at all.Never play with her feelings
unless feelings is the name she has given her dog.Action is eloquence,
choose your words well.
Find the song that plays in both your hearts,
be the dance that makes her smile.To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
I can see a drum playing in your eyes,
don’t rush into that song.
First you must find a simple beat to play
and see if she wants to sing along.Be great in act, as you have been in thought.
Avoid taking a permanent marker and writing her name across your chest. Because when you grow up, there’s a good chance her name may get lost in a forest. Instead, be the action that leaves an imprint on her mind,
so that when she thinks of someone who is generous and kind
she’ll think of you.Parting is such sweet sorrow,
so when you decide to offer her a piece of your chocolate bar,
I know you don’t like to share your treats,
be brave.
You will soon discover the treat it is, watching the joy in her eyes
when she unwraps the gift
that leaves an echo through her heart.Now look at her,
though she be but little, she is fierce.
Watch how she paints,
she holds the brush by her teeth,
she still has a milk mustache from breakfast;
you have picked a warrior to love.Be not afraid of greatness, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.
To stage a play in her mind
of what life would be like if the two of you were together
you have to audition to win her heart.
It has been said that actors tell beautiful lies,
but if you can be the performance that rocks the truth
and invite her to rehearsals that genuinely show how you feel,
she just may cast you as the leading part.
by Arianna Pozzuoli
