Back in 1998, in a Burbank diner, I interviewed Jennifer Love Hewitt for the now-defunct (don’t blame me) Detour magazine. Love was the teenagiest, a Hello Kitty of sunshine and lollipops, bursting with good vibes and had not a bad word to say about anyone. And she’d thought to bring with her a couple of poems she’d written, which I found the other day when I was uncharacteristically tidying up at home. Here they are. They’re both called “Poem” and both were conceived in all-caps.
POEM
TODAY I THOUGHT OF HIM FOR THE LAST TIME,
WHY? BECAUSE I COULD NO LONGER SEE OUR LOVE
THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES.
I COULD NO LONGER NOTICE THE WAY HIS EYES,
GLITTERED WHEN HE SMILED,
HOW HIS BROWS FURROWED WHEN HE WAS THINKING,
OR THE FEELING FELT THROUGH MY SOUL WHEN HE LAUGHED.
I COULD NO LONGER SEE HIM OR HOLD HIM IN MY DREAMS,
OR ENJOY THE TENDER WORDS STILL KEPT IN MY HEART.
I COULD NO LONGER IMAGINE HIS SOFT LIPS IN MY HEART.
WITH HIM, A STOLEN GLANCE BECAME A KEPT STARE,
SLOW RHYTHMICAL STEPS CREATED A PATH OF LOST BLINDNESS,
LEADING ONLY TO BROKEN HEARTS AND THWARTED DESIRES.
WHEN I REALIZED THAT I WAS A POET WRITING ALONE I KNEW IT
WAS TIME TO END MY STORY OF LOVE.
I WAS SAD AT THE OUTCOME OF THE POEM I HAD WRITTEN FOR
MYSELF
BUT FOUND IT TO BE TRAGICALLY ROMANTIC.
TODAY I THOUGHT OF HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME,
WHY? BECAUSE ROMANCE IS A POETS WORD FOR DISCOVERY AND
WITH HIM I DISCOVERED LOVE.
AND TO MY LOVE I DEDICATE THIS POEM. . .
POEM
THE HEART IS A POWERFUL AND PASSIONATE ENTITY,
THAT SHOULD BE EXPRESSED FREELY, FOR ONE MAY
NEVER ENCOUNTER ITS TRUE OBSESSION OR COMPANION. . .
BE NOT AFRAID OF TRUE AFFECTION BU OF AFFECTION,
LEFT TO STARVE UNNOURISHED AND ALONE WITHOUT HOPE,
SOMETIMES LOVE CONQUERS FEAR AND THE FAMISHED HUNGER,
WILL DISSIPATE WITH GREAT EXCITEMENT. . .
FOR THE HEART LIVES NOT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED,
BUT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN. . .
