Writing a Love Letter

I wasn’t looking for advice on how to write a love letter, but advice found me. I was actually looking for advice on how to correctly sign a formal letter – but this had nothing to do with the not-at-all bogus (I wonder if ‘bogus’ is Mock-Latin) letter from Rufus Lambus (see Lambs Fight Back). And I discovered a helpful, but slightly creepy, website (letterwritingguide.com). It gives guidelines on letter writing for almost any occasion, accompanied by a sample letter. Included in the list of possible letters a person might need to write in their lifetime was ‘a love letter’. Here is the sample letter:


To My Beloved Caitlyn,

You are always on my mind, I can't stop thinking about you. The first thoughts when I wake, and the last thoughts before I go to sleep are of you. I am such a lucky guy to have found such a wonderful woman. I miss you so much, it has been too long since the last time I saw you.
Your smile is so beautiful and magical. Every time that I think of your smile it lights me up inside. Even when I am having a really bad day, seeing you smile makes me want to smile too and it makes me forget about the previous events of the day.
Caitlyn, you must be the most caring person on earth. You seem to have an unlimited amount of patience and kindness. Every time I make a mistake you are right there to support me. The time that you drove 300 miles just to take care of my sick mother when I was away is just one example of your big heart.
I have had such a great time with you no matter what we are doing. As long as you are around, even doing the most mundane activity is fun. I hope that we'll see each other everyday when I come back, I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I miss you so much.

Love always,
Signature

If I were Caitlyn I’d get the hell out of town before this guy gets back:
“I want to spend as much time with you as possible” – he’s very clingy
“Every time I make a mistake you are right there to support me” – he can’t look after himself and, hence, is probably very needy
“The time that you drove 300 miles just to take care of my sick mother” – he neglects his responsibilities and expects you to take care of them
“Love always, Signature” – he can’t remember his own name

In my time, on this bumpy planet, I have both written and received the occasional ‘love’ letter - I put love into brackets because love, especially romantic love, is complicated, and not always ‘loving’. A love letter is either joyful or painful – I can’t imagine it being neutral. Some years ago an ex-boyfriend kept sending me ‘love’ letters after we’d broken up; it became distressing. Eventually the letters stopped, but I held on to them for a number of years - for various reasons - until I ceremoniously burned them, which was very cathartic.

I’ve been trying to find more appropriate, and poetic, words for a love letter than those used in the above sample letter. I don’t know many poems, so I’ve turned to songs (from my not-very-extensive music collection). I often listen to “Touch” by Sarah McLachlan (her first album). Her music is melodic and ethereal, with beautiful, sometimes dark, lyrics – words which could be added to any self-respecting love letter. One of my favourite songs is “Strange World”, here are some of the lyrics:

We walk without a sound across a barren landscape
Your eyes are twisted down to a dew entrailed ground
We watch the stars as they slowly fade away and in the clearing sky I see
The cold stone face of morning setting in on me
It's a strange world
It's a very strange world that leaves me
Holding on to nothing when there's nothing left to lose

Your touch is cold and damp, the devil's in your eyes
I wonder why I always let you lead me on this way
'Cause you see only what you want to see
You feel only as you want to
And I am on the outside of your strange world…