Stages Of Love

After a long hiatus from art projects, I decided to try and document all the stages of love with haikus, which I conceived of as including all the negative, indecisive and positive parts.I envisioned starting with the meet-cute, the fading of infatuation, first fight and covering the gradual disintegration vs. longevity. In 2009, I'd never really had a long-long term relationship (my longest was a bit over 3 years), so I was more familiar with most of the negative parts. I tried to research by talking to married long-term couples. And then, during my process, I met the person who would become my long-term partner, which was interesting and helped clarify a few of the first few poems, but didn't change my process all that much.

Stages of Love was started in late 2009, writing finished in 2010, visual finished in early 2011.

Not Available in print (although I do have a 2011 SOL visual if you want to view it; large screen strongly recommended; it's fairly big, 6MB). This was also made into "valentine" cards (with one haiku per card) for a Valentine's day show in Feb, 2011, which one of my friends put on.

Poems (if viewing on phone, please turn to landscape mode):

Love Stage 1: it's bliss

Love Concussion (the fever dream)

bunny thumping leg
pink cotton candy sticky
like addiction drug

Love Stage 2: excitment commingled with fear of future

Hearts of Glass

thrumming with tension
sweetness sprinkled with sullen
you might be the one

Love Stage 3: lowering the rose-tinted glasses

cracks in the fatuation

some imperfectly
administered luxuries
mar otherwise bliss

Love Stage 4: first fight (or any fight in later stage)

Love On The Ropes (what is wrong with you?)

oppositional
it is all your fault (or mine)
can’t we just make up?

Love Stage 5: fun but fraught, fear of commitment

Fork in the Road (you shake it, you break it)

treading broken glass
little prickle leak should i
let you consume me?

<< Divergence >>

A. is for Atrophy	B. is for Belonging	I. is for Inertia
Love Stage 6A: things start to fall apart Wrestling with Crocodiles (de Nile ain’t just a river) wreckage we ignore angry staccato silence affection weapon	Love Stage 6B: the regret that accompanies a binary choice The Others (roads not taken) gold polish tarnished drive past familiar potholes hard to discard map	Love Stage 6I: going along to get along Contemporary Assent cruising this plateau things are not so terrible beats sleeping alone
Love Stage 7A: one-sided erosion Oblivious Irritant knowledge like embers smoldering in charcoal eyes what’s wrong, honeybunch?	Love Stage 7B: fear of settling down Let Forever Be (Compatibility Complex) engine shuddering frantically flipping switches flight paranoia	. . .
Love Stage 7AA: one-side erosion cover-up Suspicious Calm you say it’s alright but I’m not sure I believe way too much quiet	Love Stage 8B: synchronicity Air Currents Align dandelion puffs floating together apart trajectory same	. . .
Love Stage 8A: thwarted breakup Un-breaking this isn’t working wait, please don’t, i can, hurting fine, give one more chance	Love Stage 9B: can deal with conflict amicably The Nature of Carefree discord like snowstorm gloves shovel tolerable inside remains warm	. . .
Love Stage 9A: post-thwarted breakup Sweet Regret pretty wee bandage when it falls wound festering surprise not surprise	Love Stage 10B: growing sense of security Butterflies become Pillars foundation proven walls and all solid secure no thought of moving	. . .
Love Stage 10A: post real breakup Relapse distant wisps eclipsed temptation too alluring 2nd time’s the churn	Love Stage 11B: excitement gone, replaced with calm Striking Sulphur no conflagration but matches keep candles lit steady heat ration	. . .