Valentine's Day Poem: River Tides
A Valentine's Day Love Poem and a Bonus Song about Love and Regret With a Little Back Story on the Song Collab.
From my poetry journals today, a love poem about the river that runs through my life. I’ve spent most of my life in very close proximity to this river, the Merrimack River. It is very much a part of me.
When I was searching through my journals for a poem for Valentine’s Day, I came across this poem and felt it the perfect piece to share for the occasion. And, it turned out that I also wrote the first draft on February 14, 2017.
And so, here it is, my love poem for Valentine’s Day 2025, I do hope you all enjoy…
River Tides
Oh, how you tug me
This way, and that.
I am caught-up in your tides
Like a lover, unable to break free.
First, you drift upstream
Defying both logic and gravity
And then you tumult to the sea
Moving at whatever speed you deem.
I watch in quiet anticipation
For your shift in flow
For I tend to follow
Whichever way that you hasten.
And in that moment
When you appear
Perpetually still, but not at all
I am awed by the power that is immanent.
There is this force inside of me,
That wavers like the tides.
In one moment, I am the very essence of—
Your full throttle energy.
In the next moment, I am the very essence of your still.
And in those moments, when all is reflected
I see clearly the truth of life
Deep within your well.
Oh, how you tug me
This way, and that.
I am caught-up in your tides
Like a lover, unable to break free.
I wanted to add a song for Valentines Day as well and I was listening to the radio when I was writing this post and this song popped on.
It reminded me that there are plenty of people like me, who are single on Valentines Day. I thought perhaps, they, like me, might have some feelings about Love and Regret. I know I certainly have plenty.
This song collaboration between Billy Strings and Derek Trucks for Billy Strings’ song Love and Regret, took place on February 25, 2023, when Billy Strings and the Tedeschi Trucks Band were playing across the street from each other in Nashville.
Derek Trucks did a little gate crashing that night and ended up on stage with Billy Strings and his band, while the Tedeschi Trucks Band were off stage on an intermission across the street. I just happened to be lucky enough to see this play out online live because I had tuned into Billy Strings live feed performance on FB. I have to say this was one of the coolest live music performances that I have seen online in some time.
I hope you all enjoy this song…
Thank you all for reading and listening. I hope you enjoyed this love poem and the curated river photography that was taken along the Merrimack River in Amesbury, Massachusetts in 2017 when I lived along this stretch of the river.
Please stay tuned for new posts… Today’s post has been taken from the paywalled Archives here and repurposed with some revised text and photography. It felt right to re-share this Valentine’s Day post from last year, given the fact that my life has been pretty stressful of late. I also had about 1/10th of the amount of subscribers a year ago than I do now, so it’s a good share for newer readers.
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As always, comments are open. Feel free to chime in and join the conversation with others in the community.
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Wishing you all a blessed and beautiful day today… Remember to breathe when things get stressful and as always, be kind to one another.
As I like to say, “Be in the moment and go with the flow.”
Blessed be… Pamela
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Pamela, I love this poem, especially that you begin and end the poem with the same gorgeous stanza:
Oh, how you tug me
This way, and that.
I am caught-up in your tides
Like a lover, unable to break free.
I'm reading your post after Valentine's Day, but the poem has staying power.
"I clearly see the truth of life", and it is through this lens that we can deepen our connection with all life, it allows us to go oh so deep, together.