Wednesday, February 23, 2011

my perfect valentines day



grant has an amazing brain. he remembers anything and everything. almost every sunday in church, he pulls out his yellow notepad and starts writing. and i always smile because i know what he is doing. for any of you poetry lovers out there, you are most definitely familiar with The Raven by edgar allan poe. if you aren't familiar with it, go ahead and start reading it. because i'm betting you might get sick of it before you are even half way done. it is about 8 pages long and ya, grant has the entire thing memorized. it's quite the accomplishment and i like to tell people about it. not only is he amazing at memorizing but he writes the most beautiful poems. there are a few from his mission that bring tears to my eyes every time i read them. his love for words has completely had an influence on me and i love noticing things that i would have never noticed before.

for valentines he wrote me poem. something that i have secretly wanted for years. i learned of his love for poetry before we were even dating and still remember thinking about how much i would love a poem written by him for me. because of the way he can portray his deep emotions through words, i'm not afraid to admit that i wanted to see how his feelings for me would come out on paper. so here goes another one of those mushy posts. and because this is my happy blog, i can post whatever i want. even dr. suess agrees with me. "be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind".


“Us”
By Grant Barnes

Once upon a time, “I” turned into “us”
And life has been changed forever,
“I” life was great before “us” came along,
But with “us”, life couldn’t be better.

“Us” makes us warm on a cold winter’s night,
And gives us a shoulder to cry on.
“Us” is required to banish “alone”
And “us” we can always rely on.

When going along the pitfalls of life,
“Us” helps keep us out of trouble.
“I” can get by with one set of eyes,
But with “us” our vision is doubled.

“I” without “us” would be a mistake,
Life would be an utter disaster.
“I’s” like a speedboat without a rudder,
Going who-knows-where faster and faster.

“There’s safety in numbers”, Man’s been heard to say,
And nothing’s ever been truer.
There’s also a joy that comes standard with “us”
That without, “I” would never be bluer.

“Us” has the power to generate life,
whether its two lives becoming a new one,
 Or could be two “I’s” who’ve turned into “us”
Giving birth to a daughter or son.

When it comes to things that have gone well in life,
Britt you’re the ultimate plus.
I pray everyday and give thanks up above,
Because, I can’t live life without us.


© Grant Barnes 2011 - All Rights Reserved

10 sweet thoughts:

Jaeme + Randy said...

Oh my gosh how adorable is that? He is very talented! I wish I could put how I feel into words like that. I think that is an amazing gift to have.

emily+brett said...

i love poetry. i've posted few on our blog. just last night i wrote a poem for my young women. i'll have to do a poem post soon.

grant really is so sweet to write you a poem! i know how much thought goes into writing such an eloquent poem.

Chelsea said...

I love this! And I really liked what you said about posting what you want (love that Dr. Suess quote). I, for one, love reading happy things like this!

sasha said...

my heart just


m e l t e d.


p.s
i used quote that dr. suess quote all the time.

angela hardison said...

i'm not usually one for poetry, but that was really really good! and pretty flowers too.

kate said...

the perfect valentine gift!

niki said...

So sweet.

I love you two as a couple.

Ps. Loved seeing snipets of your darling home.

Can we meet one day?

Pps. Did I ever tell you how much your comment made my life?! The nice things you said about me and my style and the fact that you compared my baby to coco Chanel. Made me so happy!

Reimstar said...

I think you two are the most fascinating people I know! I am always surprised by your interests and talents; pleasantly surprised I should clarify. Who would ever guess that your rugby playing, alligator owning, wood carving, nautical knot-tying, manly man husband would be such a beautiful poet?! That was lovely :) congratulations on such a happy valentines day.
Ps. I just really, really miss you.

Nicole said...

gorgeous flowers!

Traci Barnes said...

Very cute. We think of you often and pray for little granddaughter every day. Dad and I went to Las Vegas for his Vet convention and stayed at the Encore in a king suite. Sweet. I got spoiled. Hey, Connor got into BYU. He is very excited. More Zoobies.