Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you to everyone who sent us a poem.

We have done our bit and picked the best five poems and now it’s up to YOU.

Have a read and let us know which poem is your favourite. Tweet your favourite poems with #FaveGiveMeSomeLovePoem or write it in the comments below. Voting ends 17 Sunday @ midnight and the winners of Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus will be announced on 18 Monday.

To the poets with poems posted below – CONGRATULATIONS. Direct message us on twitter if you would like us to tweet an extract of your poem to your loved one. Good Luck!

UNNAMED
Through my ring of defence have you broken
Slipped through like a sylph into a place
Too long closed and that I feared to open.
Now, daily, I seek to see your face.
Swept away by svelte and gentle graces,
And by words not so much spoken as sang;
Swayed by your sweet looks that swamped my senses,
My heart went out with a flutter and bang.
And the strings, having been pulled wide, are now,
Like matching keys on the piano, melding
In tunes smooth, sublime, serene, and mellow;
Uplifting, lilting, and liberating.
Marianna, you have made me complete:
For this heart, with your love, is now replete.

SAMUEL ORUBU

LOVE ME ON VALENTINE’S DAY.
Love me on valentine,
when long-suffering switch bad my song,
like rotten fruits from the vine.
I have waited this long
for the world to bring this time.
I am orphaned and lent to streets, a lost child
messaging the poet page us on rhyme.
I have lived mild…but still in wild
hours of the night; like roses
smell, your love smell like perfume richer
than the rottenness of time past; our loses
are our gain, because your love keeps us bigger
than the sour times so bad;
burnt hearts sing for valentine’s free, against the life we had.

 DONALD WILLIAMS

 FOR AS LONG AS YOUR LOVE REMAINS
And for as long as your love remains,
In shards of gray, or shades of glee,
I know I’ll feel seventeen again.

Your love, an answer to my calling faith,
Helping me believe in the strength of my own will,
This I’ll remember for as long as your love remains,

Knowing you was by Heaven’s free grace,
A miracle of sheer bliss,
I’ll remember you as long as your love remains,

More of you is all I crave,
Thirsty for your kiss,
That makes me feel seventeen all over again,

In sweetness, and in pain,
And for as long as I breath,
I’ll remember you, as long as your love remains,

I’ll love you in the winter’s rain,
Summer’s sun, forever and everyday in- between,
And for as long as your love remains,
I promise I’ll feel seventeen all over again.

dr2103.anonymous

 OVER TROUBLED WATER
How shall i challenge the wind of love?
How shall i break the wind of change?
Nor from those stormy wind that rumble,
Which has led me to the fence a little shaky?
Fetter’d by love, compelled by the beads,
Teeter’d by the melodious song bird,
Left to mourn the faithless kiss and feats-
Are these the roads down in the valley of dirge?
Amid the clashing strife, i only stand unbent,
Till thou hast imprisoned me within thine arms,
For every swelling tide of woes unfurled,
Like the flag which i have learnt to fly the low part.
Over the tempestuous sea;
My love, our love, will soar above the wave peak.

 IZUCHUKWU UDOKWU

WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW?
Today,
as a couple we did together pray.
Before dawn
you picked up an apron
and fixed me a delicious breakfast
of my favorite repast.
86400 seconds we spent in each other’s arms,
killing ourselves in a romantic fray.
Every beat of our hearts a quaver of ecstatic psalms;
as subtle soft rhythms from the harp of our ribs did sweetly play.
We had a great time,
O! How I cherish and hold each moment we’ve shared sublime.
Yet one thing still I long to know; will you still love me tomorrow like you do today?
Or will all these mushiness with this fleeting night also fade away?

 SOON NATH