Wherever You Are, my love will find you.

This is a beautiful poem written by Nancy Tillman. It also has beautiful pictures to go along with it.

I wanted you more
than you will ever know,
so I sent love to follow
wherever you go.

It's high as you wish it. It's quick as an elf.
You'll never outgrow it...it stretches itself!

So climb any mountain...
climb up to the sky!
My love will find you.
My love can fly!

Make a big splash! Go out on a limb!
My love willl find you. My love can swim!

It never gets lost, never fades, never ends...
if you're working...
or playing...
or sitting with friends.

You can dance 'til you're dizzy...
paint 'til you're blue ...
There's no place, not one,
that my love can't find you.

And if someday you're lonely,
or someday you're sad,
or you strike out at baseball,
or think you've been bad...

just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair.
That's me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.

In the green of the grass...in the smell of
the sea...in the clouds floating by...
at the top of a tree... in the sound
crickets make at the end of the day...

"You are loved. You are loved. You are loved,"
they all say.

My love is so high, and so wide and
so deep, it's always right there, even
when you're asleep.

So hold your head high
and don't be afraid
to march to the front
of your own parade.

If you're still my small babe
or you're all the way grown,
my promise to you
is you're never alone.

You are my angel, my darling,
my star...and my love will find you,
wherever you are.

You are loved.



Antoinette's Thoughts:
Having children of my own has allowed me to develop a deep appreciation for this poem.  For many of us, we think about a time in life when we will have our first child, and when that day finally comes our lives are forever changed.  Our children become our everything, they become our heart and our love follows them like a never ending shadow.  Love is a word that even when it is unspoken, can be felt in the green of the grass ... in the smell of the sea...in the clouds floating by...at the top of the tree...in the sound crickets make at the end of the day... it is this type of descriptive language that allows our love to live even when we ourselves can no longer continue on.  Within this poem there are several ingredients that come together in order to make this poem a beautiful piece of poetry.  It's as high as you wish it.  It's as quick as an elf  (simile) or, you can dance til you're dizzy...paint til you're blue...(metaphor)

I wanted you more
than you will ever know,
so I sent love to follow
wherever you go.

As seen in the stanza above, alliteration is used through the words wanted, will, and wherever in order to explain a love that begins for our children even before the first time we hold them in our arms. In closing, I will make a big splash! in order to show that onomatopoeia exist in this poem as well.



Macy's Thoughts:

I love this poem!  This poem captures the love that a parent feels for a child. The poem basically tells the child that no matter where they are, their parents' love will always find them.  I read this poem to my son regularly, and not once have I made it through the whole poem without crying.  My five-year-old always asks why I get so sad when I read it, but I tell him it that I am not crying because I’m sad, I am crying happy tears because I know that I am so lucky.  So this poem definitely has an emotional impact on readers. 

             Another element found throughout the poem is personification, and that is basically where you give a non-human object the characteristics of a human.  The most common instance here is where the author gives human qualities to the feeling of love.  For example, she says that love can swim and that love can fly. She also says that love never gets lost, never fades, nor ends.  She also says that the real sound that crickets make at the end of the day is not chirping, but them repeating “you are loved”.

            Although each of the stanzas rhymes, the poem does not have a set rhyme scheme. The most common seen pattern is ABCB.  It definitely follows a nice flowing rhythm. Part of this is due to another common poetry element, which is repetition. It repeats several times, “You are loved. You are loved. You are loved.”  In fact, the word love is repeated thirteen times.

             I hope everyone enjoys this poem as much as I do.  I talked about the emotional effect it has on me.  But even though I really like the poem, if I did not have a child, the poem would probably not have such a profound effect on me.  Are there any other poems that you have read that make you feel the same way?