50 Great Love Poems for Valentine’s Day

50 Great Love Poems for Valentine’s Day:
2017 Edition

Phil Sarah Love Poems Website

Hey poetry lovers (and poetry-loving lovers)! It’s Valentine’s Day, so we’ve updated our playlist of love poems for you to enjoy! Click through to the full playlist here, or check out the individual poems below.

Make sure to check out our awesome books in the Button Store.

Asia Samson – “90s Love”
“I want to love you like the 90s, back when we made book covers out of paper bags.”

Bernard Ferguson – “Message (after Khary Jackson)
“I think that man was born whole, but for all this time I have been the piece that completes him.”

Jamie Mortara – “Some Things You Need to Know Before Dating Me”
“I like long walks on the beach, directly into the bottom of the ocean.”

Sabrina Benaim – “How to Unfold a Memory
“Love, the great and handsome terrible beast; trace me back to it by a trail of smoke.”

Anis Mojgani – “Today’s Love”
“Damn if we humans aren’t a trifling animal at times, but still I love you, you mountains of trifle and futility, of perseverance and lightness.”

Haley Mosley – “Walls Waltz”
“My bed smelled like him today, and he’s never been in this one.”

Eric S. – “Virginity Lost”
“My only secret is that sex already meant little to me, even before I had it.”

Khary Jackson – “Carolina”
“When you first said you loved me I stopped being a slave.”

Aaliyah Jihad – “Ode to Aaliyah’s Mission to Sex Something for the First Time”
“Maybe this isn’t the rose petal, candle lit, promise ring, virginity tale everybody talks about, but fuck a love story.”

Erin Schick – “Identity: A Love Story”
“Asexual identity is permission to love myself the most.”

Sarah Kay & Phil Kay – “When Love Arrives”
“Love will tell you you are beautiful, and mean it, over and over again.”

Edwin Bodney – “Good Morning”
“You will be my first home, the song I listen for at sunrise, the first place I am content to dwell in.”

Neil Hilborn – “OCD”
“I leave the door unlocked. I leave the lights on.”

Theresa Davis – “Like Like”
“He is more like me than he knows, because I, too, am a sucker for a pretty, smart, nice girl, who eats food, and has conversations.”

Sabrina Benaim – “First Date”
“My heart is a messy bedroom I always distract myself from cleaning.”

Jesse Parent – “Hotbox Love”
“There are rings inside of me that are black and burned with the memory of you that I would carve away the bark of me to get at.”

Rachel Wiley – “Ten Honest Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy”
“He tells me he loves me with the lights on.”

Dominique Christina – “Crushes Suck and Everybody Knows It”
“Can’t you see yourself dangling from the end of my pen? Well, I am waiting to write you down in cursive, in ink, in everything.”

Kevin Yang – “How to Love Your Introvert”
“Understand that just because I do not wear my heart on my sleeve for everyone to see does not mean that it beats any softer than yours.”

Joy Young – “The Dress Poem”
“It feels like staring at the sun, hard; so when I look away it stays, printed in my mind, making other images melt.”

Bryan Roessel – “History of Collisions”
“We held hands for the first time, spun slow into the sweet orbit of mutual embrace, a gravity so unlike the crashing of bodies.”

Talia Young – “The Virgin’s Lament”
“I want to touch you like people want to jump off Niagara Falls.”

Jared Singer – “Love”
“Love is not a muscle. It cannot atrophy from lack of use.”

Bianca Phipps – “Almosts”
“I never felt so at ease as the day you called me precocious.”

Victoria Morgan – “How to Succeed in Heartbreak”
“Do not be okay, because heartbreak is not about being okay, it is about remembering you were okay before.”

Jillian Christmas – “Just How some Folks Play the Blues”
“The first time a woman kissed me, I heard the music.”

Joyce Lee – “Mad Love”
“Everything happens for a reason. For instance, I busted the windows out your car so you could get the air I assumed you were talking about when you said I was suffocating you.”

Lauren Bullock – “Love Notes”
“I may never be the one who sleeps next to you at night, but at least let me be the love letter tucked beneath your pillowcase.”

Ollie Schminkey – “Two Twin Beds”
“Loving someone means inventing your own language.”

Melissa Lozada-Oliva & Jonathan Mendoza – “Date My Mom!”
“My mom’s so independent, she doesn’t even need to date you. That’s how dateable my mom is!”

Neil Hilborn – “Future Tense”
“Because she filled something in you thats still full, even though she’s gone.”

Sean Patrick Mulroy – “Letter to a New Crush”
“Look- I have been single long enough to watch entire porn careers bloom and wilt.”

Kay Kron – “Poem for Greg”
“You carry gigantic wood flats like a careless child carrying bouquets of daisies and I want to be a bouquet of daisies carelessly carried by you.”

Sam Cook – “On Feeling Safe”
“I would know, from the way we moved together, I was okay.”

Will Evans – “My Wife Is Shaped Like”
“My wife is shaped like home.”

Shane Hawley – “Sequins”
“When you sleep with your high school crush… eleven years after high school… not everything about it is magical.”

Khary Jackson – “How to Make Love”
“This is why both of you are here. Not to reserve a breath of tomorrow’s air, not to promise that you’ll stop whispering warm nothings to death, but because right here, right now, you are two people beaten but not gone.”

Emilee Nimetz – “The Warning Poem”
“Don’t shower because you will be clean and I will want to make a baby with you.”

Paul Canada – “Cummunication”
“I wanna explore every inch of your body, consensually. Let’s put the come back in communication!”

Gage Wallace – “Joseph Speaks to Mary”
“Years from now, our son will turn water into wine. Tonight, if you want me, I would turn this wine into an ocean.”

Aja Monet – “Weathering”
“Every poem before you was me just trying to scratch the words to reach you, to speak you into existence.”

Christopher Stanly – “Fat Love”
“Fat love is like nothing you see in magazines, on TV or movies. We proudly rip these shirts off and fill the air with the skin only we are familiar with.”

Lauren Zuniga – “Team F%&* Up Your Sheets”
“I have no idea where this is going. I just want to be captain of Team Fuck Up Your Sheets.”

Cam Awkward-Rich – “A Prude’s Manifesto”
“Often, I fantasize about tying a blond boy down to his own bed, leaving him splayed and panting, and then… just leaving.”

J. Scott Brownlee – “English 301”
“I understand the word desire now, I think, mostly because of you.”

Adam Segal & Mikkel Snyder – “Raptors”
“Love is a velociraptor.”

Sarah Kay – “Private Parts”
“We spelled love G-I-V-E.”

T Miller – “Halloween Suggestions for Your Ex-Lover”
“You should go down to Wal-Mart and see if they sell any face paint that makes you look less like the monster you are, and more like a person who actually gives a fuck about other people.”

Kate Bailey – “Sex in Warzones”
“These bodies are our only defiance. The marksman finds us all in time.”

Sierra DeMulder – “The Unrequited Love Poem”
“A soul mate is not the person who makes you the happiest, but the one who makes you feel the most.”

Chava Gabrielle – “Jupiter” (Button Live)

Performing at Button Poetry Live.

“I’m a careful girl: always walking around with my keys
locked between my knuckles and my other fist gripped.”

Don’t miss this great poem from Chava Gabrielle, performing at Button Poetry Live, January 2017. If you’re in the Twin Cities, don’t miss the next Button Poetry Live show, first Monday of every month in downtown Saint Paul.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out all our books and merch, including books by Neil Hilborn, Danez Smith, Hanif Abdurraqib, Jacqui Germain, Sam Sax & more.

Desireé Dallagiacomo – “Shave Me” (100K Views!)

“Somehow, in post-apocalyptic America, these women find razors and
shaving cream while scavenging for food and bludgeoning zombies.”

Congratulations to Desireé on topping 100,000 views on this excellent poem. Check out more from Desireé here and here.



And while you’re here, make sure to check out our other books and merch as well, including our awesome t-shirts and poster and new books by Jacqui Germain, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Aaron Coleman!

Best of Button Week 100

“I wanna thank you for making all
the love songs mean something again.”



This week marks the 100th week of the Best of Button playlist, featuring the top-viewed videos on the Button YouTube Channel. You can check out the current list above, and to celebrate, we’re honoring ALL 179 poets who have made the list over the last year with links to their poems below. Check out some of the best poems of the last two years!

Aaliyah Jihad
Adam Hamze
Adina Burke
Adrienne Novy
Aja Monet
Alessandria Rhines
Alex Copeland
Alex Dang
Alyesha Wise
Amanda Pressman
Amber Tamblyn
Amin Drew Law
Anis Mojgani
Anna Binkovitz
Anthony McPherson
Ashe Vernon
Ashlee Haze
Ashley August
Asia Samson
A.W.
Aziza Barnes
Beck Cooper
Bianca Phipps
Bill Moran
Blythe Baird
Bobby Crawford
Brenna Twohy
Brian Yu
Cameron Awkward-Rich
Carrie Rudzinski
Casandra Faith
Cassidy Foust
Catherine Pierce
Charlotte Abotsi
Christopher Michael
Chrysanthemum Tran
Clementine von Radics
Crystal Valentine
Dan Roman
Danez Smith
Darius Simpson
Dave Harris
Denice Frohman
Desireé Dallagiacomo
Donte Collins
Dylan Garity
Ebony Stewart
Effy Fritz
Elisa Chavez
Elizabeth Acevedo
Ellyn Touchette
Em Allison
Emilee Nimetz
Emily Eastman
Emily James
Eric Sirota
Erica Hoops
Erich Haygun
Erin Schick
Evan Knoll
Franny Choi
FreeQuency
Gabriel Green
Gabriel Ramirez
Gabrielle Smith
Guante
Hanif Abdurraqib
Hannah Dains
Hieu Minh Nguyen
Honey Sanaa
Iain Kohn
iCon
Imani Cezanne
Jamie Mortara
Janae Johnson
Jasmine Combs
Jasmine Bell
Javon Johnson
Jeanann Verlee
Jensen McRae
Jeremy Radin
Jess Rizkallah
Joel Francois
John Ratz
Johnny Osi
Jonathan Mendoza
Joseph Capehart
Julian Randall
Justice Gaines
Kai Davis
Kate Hao
Kayla Q
Kelsey Warren
Kevin Kantor
Kevin Yang
Khamal Iwuanyanwu
Khary Jackson
Kristen Sze-Tu
Lauren Zuniga
Mahogany L Browne
Mallary M
Marshall Gilson
Marvin Hodges
Mary McDonough
Matt Coonan
Max Binder
Maxine Wright
Maya Berkley
Meaghan Ford
Melissa Lozada-Oliva
Melissa Newman-Evans
Mercedez Holtry
Michael Mlekoday
Michelle MacLeod
Mikayla Mitchell
Mike McGee
Mila Cuda
Miriam Harris
Mojdeh Stoakley
Mo Crist
Muggs Fogarty
Nayo Jones
Neil Hilborn
Nia Lewis
Nkosi Nkululeko
Noel Quiñones
Nora Cooper
Ocean Vuong
Olivia Fantini
Olivia Gatwood
Ollie Schminkey
Pages Matam
Patrick Roche
Paul Tran
Phil Kaye
Rachel Wiley
Raven McGill
Reagan Myers
Rebeca Mae
Riley Zahn
RJ Walker
Rob Gibsun
Rob Mitchell
Rudy Francisco
Ryler Dustin
Sabrina Benaim
Safia Elhillo
Saidu Tejan-Thomas
Sam Cook
Sam Rush
Sam Sax
Sara Brickman
Sarah Kay
Sarah Ogutu
Sarina Morales
Scout Bostley
Sean Patrick Mulroy
Shasparay Lighteard
Shavontae Patrick
Shay Alexi Stewart
Sienna Burnett
Sierra DeMulder
Spencer Brownstein
Steven Willis
Tanesha Nicole
Taylor Seaberg
Taylor Steele
Thadra Sheridan
Theresa Davis
Tonya Ingram
Tucker Bryant
Vanessa Tahay
Victoria Morgan
Wil Gibson
Will Evans
Will Giles
Yesika Salgado
Zenaida Peterson
Zev Verdoner

Pages Matam – “Black Joy, Uninterrupted”

Performing at Southern Fried 2016.

“They name all of these children after stars because we know all too
well of things only being seen once they are dead.”

Don’t miss this incredible poem from Pages Matam, performing at the 2016 Southern Fried Poetry Slam in Greensboro, NC. Support Button on Patreon so we can continue to broadcast these amazing poets!
While you’re here, head over to
the Button store to check out our books and merch, including Button t-shirts in both female and unisex cuts, and books and more by many of your favorite Button artists.

Ashaki Jackson – “Fulcrum”

Performing at Art Share LA

“You consider lynching mechanics and question which was
raised first: the rope or the neck?”

Don’t miss this stunning poem from Ashaki Jackson, performing at Art Share LA. Support Button on Patreon so we can continue to broadcast these amazing poets!

And while you’re here, head over to the Button Store to check out books and more by many of your favorite Button artists, including Neil Hilborn, Danez Smith, Mahogany L. Browne, Hanif Abdurraqib, Olivia Gatwood and more!

Matthew Cuban Hernandez – “Challenger”

Performing at Art Share LA

“I tell them they’re worth so much more than a thousand words,
that they are an ocean of confessions, begging for an out.”

Don’t miss this excellent poem from Matthew Cuban Hernandez, performing at Art Share LA. Support Button on Patreon so we can continue to broadcast these amazing poets!

And while you’re here, head over to the Button Store to check out books and more by many of your favorite Button artists, including Neil Hilborn, Danez Smith, Mahogany L. Browne, Hanif Abdurraqib, Olivia Gatwood and more!