Love Poems Can be Used to Celebrate Humanity – And You Can Write One Today!

Love poems are centred around a fundamental force that drives human existence, emotions, actions, and connections – and we at the AVBOB Poetry Project can help you write them. Of everything that pushes our species forward, love, empathy, and human connection have helped us survive because they are the reason we care for each other. Love is so essential, in fact, that for thousands of years, it has been expressed in art, music, literature, and, notably, poetry. As we explore what makes love poems so unique, we will also look at their significance beyond romantic notions and how love casts a net diverse enough to include other facets like familial affection, the bonds of friendship, self-love, and the essence of humanity. For those seeking insight into crafting their own love poetry, we will assist you in getting started.

Love Poems that Celebrate Love in All its Forms

Romantic entanglements and feelings of infatuation do take up a lot of space in artistic expressions of love, but they are not the only places we humans show love. There is compassion for essential causes, self-appreciation, the love that close family and friends share, and even reverence for our planet and nature. Love poems embrace the entirety of human connections and celebrate humanity as a whole. Each form of love includes unique experiences and emotions, offering endless inspiration for poets to explore and capture in verse.

People Need People – and Love Poems Help Us Express This

At the very core of what love means is people. The late famous poet, writer, musician, actor, and professor, Benjamin Zephaniah, was passionate about people, human rights, and a better way forward for humanity. After the famous singer Bob Marley passed away, Benjamin Zephaniah (born British with Jamaican roots) became the first artist to collaborate with the Wailers, paying homage to Nelson Mandela through their musical tribute, “Free South Africa”, which was recorded in Marley’s studio. While Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island, he heard the tribute and then met with Zephaniah after his release. The two developed a friendship, and Zephaniah went on to work with children in South African townships and host the Two Nations Concert for Nelson Mandela at the Royal Albert Hall. An activist at heart, Zephaniah penned the powerful poem “What Do People Need?” which so eloquently conveys the fundamental essence of human interdependence. It beautifully emphasises humanity’s need for love, connection, empathy, and shared experiences. The poem serves as a love letter to humankind, reminding us of our inherent need for one another. It’s an ode to the richness and diversity of human relationships. His words echo the universal truth about love with lines like:

Step 3: Using Mind Maps As a Brainstorming Technique

Mind mapping is one of the best techniques if you are stuck on how to connect your ideas. You can begin by choosing a focus theme – an emotion, event, memory, or quality you enjoyed most about your departed loved one. You can then branch out and link related ideas, organising and reorganising as you go. By visualising these connections on paper, you might even remember forgotten things or tap into emotions you have suppressed. While this technique can be used for any creative writing and problem-solving process, it is beneficial when you aren’t sure of what creative steps to take next.

“People need people,
To walk to
To talk to
To cry and rely on,
People will always need people.
To love and to miss
To hug and to kiss,
It’s useful to have other people.”

In highlighting the importance of community, Zephaniah’s verses reinforce that our interconnectedness and love are not fleeting desires; they are intrinsic needs built into us to help us survive. The poem is a good representation of the enduring significance of love poems in articulating the deep facets of our shared existence.

How to Get Started on Your Own Poetry

Writing your own love poems can be an enriching experience, too. If you don’t know where to begin or if you don’t even know how, fret not – anybody can write poetry! Begin by selecting a subject or theme that resonates deeply with you, such as a personal experience, an observation about a person you love deeply, or an emotion you often experience alongside love. Next, you can allow your thoughts to freely flow and capture your feelings. Once the substance is written down, you can start refining it into verses. There’s no wrong way to do it, and you can experiment with different styles and structures, letting your creativity guide the way. The only rules in poetry are the ones you impose upon the piece, so liberate your imagination and let it lead the way!

Our Library Collection Can Help You Get Inspired

Within our library collection, you will find thousands of poems entered into our competition by local writers across all 11 official South African languages. It’s a diverse compilation that serves as a wellspring you can dip into any time, gaining a glimpse of beautiful cultural perspectives. Reading and writing love poems isn’t just about appreciating humanity and connectedness; it’s about partaking in a shared human experience – love – that will always be the reason humans have survived and thrived.