Amorous Rage

Poetry • April 2025 • Love's Fire

Some of what I write is heavy. Some of it’s light.
But all of it’s honest.
If you like that kind of space, I’d be honored to have you here.

Amorous Rage

A poem by Drew Gaither, April 2025

Another night holding myself—
going on year four.
What wealth.

Many people,
in and out of partnerships;
I’m lucky
if I can even score
a temporary situationship.

They say love’s biggest gain
is the love you find for yourself.
I’m inclined to agree—
but damn
if it just ain’t enough.

’Cause in the end,
I can only hold myself so well,
I can only rub my aches so deep,
I can only kiss myself so close,
I can only sweet-talk myself
for so long.

Minutes?
Hours?
Days?
Weeks?
Without partnership or companionship,
I can do.

Months?
That, I’ve mastered too.

Years?
Well, by some cosmic force,
I’ve endured nearly four years
of unblissful singleness.

Painful heartbreak
is the last memory of unity—
my only years of dating
clipped in a two-and-a-half-year block
so long ago.

Late to the game,
early to the exit,
stuck in a maddening appreciation for self
and frustration in the world
for overlooking me
in the catalog.

You can be everything
and still end up with nothing.

You can have little to offer
and end up with more
than bargained.

I speak not to wallow in poetic grief,
but rather to express
a sort of amorous rage—
a frustration with my imposed partnerlessness,
and how the emotions
fuel that ever-burning flame within me.

A flame
that keeps me kind,
humble,
bold,
respectful,
communicative,
responsive,
and honest.

I desperately yearn
to find amorous tranquility;
to quell the rage
of passion
within me.

---