Love Poems from the A&P

Special thanks to Panjandrum Productions for generous use of the studio. I really appreciate it! ~L8.

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Click Here to listen. (3.5 min/mp3)

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“Dearest Elaine,

“How do I love thee? Let me count the aisles.
Nay first, let there be the produce section, especially the peaches,
so like your feminine wiles.
And your lips, so like raspberries
tempt me; there I would tarry,
beautiful one,
but for the cookies and granola, sweet as your smile
in aisle
one.

“How I would love to wake with you,
More welcome than the morning coffee in aisle two,
And like the cat food in aisle three,
we could be Frisky, just you and me,
that is of course if you would agree.

“Precious Elaine, lest you think I adore
only the notion of getting spicy with you, like the Mexican fare of aisle four,
please know I admire you: your brilliant command,
your sense of humour, even the way you drive,
Kind Elaine, if you would have me,
I would fall at your feet
in aisle five.

“Utterly smitten,

“Your Secret Admirer.”


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“Tender Elaine, more tender than the rib roast
swaddled in string in the butcher’s case,
Allow me to tell you how much I adore you,
To be your lover I would boast,
If only I could speak these words of love to your beautiful face.

“Please don’t think my words to you are just a trick,
they aren’t. I would stick to you
like the display of school glue
in aisle six
and for your kiss, which would be heaven
I would not mind cleaning up 100 burst bags of sugar, flour, and cake mix
in aisle seven.

“Let me embrace you, let me whisper in your ear
how I think of you even when you are not near,
and how you do brighten my nights and days
with more wattage than all the light bulbs in aisle eight.

“Elaine, so badly do I want to ask you to be mine,
I would pile and re-pile the tediously slipping bags of jelly beans
in aisle nine.

“Completely Yours,

“Your Secret Admirer.”


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“Most Precious Elaine,

“You know by now I have a yen
to call you my own. More so do I aim
to be your companion than
anything on sale in aisle ten.

“Besides I’m running out of aisles,
next is eleven,
and to wait any longer for your smiles
would be a mistake most graven.

“Fervent is my wish that you would meet me, Elaine,
tomorrow at the festival when the sun is highest in the sky,
that is noon, as in twelve, “aisle twelve,”
and you will understand why
I could not sign my name.
Into my secret heart I pray you will delve.

“Hopefully yours,

“Your Secret Admirer.”