Shades of Lovers

Catarine Hancock

Contents ( 14)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Central Avenue Publishing, an imprint of Central Avenue Marketing Ltd.

www.centralavenuepublishing.com

SHADES OF LOVERS

Trade Paperback: 978-1-77168-222-0

Epub: 978-1-77168-223-7

Mobi: 978-1-77168-224-4

Published in Canada

Printed in United States of America

1. POETRY / Love2. POETRY / Women Authors

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

this is a book of poems

about all kinds

of love:

from the sweeping highs

of first love

to the suffocating lows

of toxicity and abuse,

from being completely shattered

to rebuilding myself,

from being left

to being the one who leaves,

from loving others

to the most important thing of all:

loving myself.

love comes in many colors

ruby red

for two young hearts

falling in love for the first time,

only to have one rip the other

apart at the seams.

ocean blue

for the love that was not ready

and bloomed too soon

between a sad boy and broken girl

who had no idea how to fix what couldn’t be.

primrose pink

for the sweetness shared

between these two;

they had a love like a flower:

it grew, and blossomed, and wilted.

stormy gray

for the hurricane that tore

through her heart and soul;

she was a boat lost at sea

and he was determined to sink her.

golden yellow

for the calm after the storm,

the sun breaking through the clouds—

a love meant to save,

but never meant to stay.

emerald green

for the planting of a sapling

of a love that was going to

take root and grow,

and last and last and last.

trigger warning:

mentions of emotional abuse, body image, and poor mental health.

please take care.

1 ruby red

for two young hearts

falling in love for the first time,

only to have one rip the other

apart at the seams.

did you love me? i’d hope.

did i love you? of course.

did you break my heart? oh, every bit of it.

—some questions and some answers

first love hits at any time.

it doesn’t matter if you’re 12

or 17

or 25;

first love will take you

whenever it pleases.

it slammed into me at 13

in the form of a lanky boy

with lopsided dimples

and hazelnut eyes,

and it stood back and watched