I have always been an admirer of Shakespeare. Theater was one of my hobbies growing up, so I was familiar with many of his plays. However, I was formally introduced to his poetry in high school. When I first read Sonnet 18 (the oh so classic "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?) I was in love. However cliche, it is still one of my favorite poems to this day. I especially loved the structure of the sonnets. For some reason, I think sonnets are the perfect form to capture a thought, especially about love. Each poem is written in iambic pentameter and has three stanzas with four lines each followed by a couplet at the end.

Unrequited Love

To own and be owned, a dual possession

It denotes love to a certain extent

For my obsession, I felt aggression

Thus, I was hellbent to receive assent

Empathetic loved the apathetic

The cruelest and most torturous conundrum

I felt angry, but mostly pathetic

Yet I could not help it but to love him

When the lover loves their love from above

It's rare the love will care but for a prayer

And often the loved craves another's love

Still, the lover cares, of course it's not fair

While the lover's love for their love remains

The loved's love, or lack thereof, is estranged

Cups of Love

I reach back to the reserves in my mind

For more love to replenish my front stock

Back there it's not separated by kind

Romantic, platonic all in one pot

A bottomless pot of delicious love

Warm and sweet, infinite and limitless

Each sip perfectly unconditional

And unconditionally imperfect

So you scoop it out and pile it high

All family, friends, and lovers in town

They can all take as much as they'd like

The reserves of love will never run out

Love to those who'll return and those who'll take

It won't expire, even if not repaid