We have put together a special issue of Bridge Ink featuring our “What Love Looks Like” community project and an epic poem written by the students at Red Bank Middle School. Interns from Project Write Now interviewed people in their lives and videoed their responses to what love looks like. The students at Red Bank Middle School were also asked about their definitions of love, and interns strung their responses together into the epic poem below. Bringing communities together through writing is our central mission, and we are proud to share these collaborative projects with you. Thank you to all of the brave voices who contributed.
What Love Is
by our 7th and 8th grade AVID students at Red Bank Middle School
Love is the warmth inside me that I hope never ends.
Love sounds like two circling birds.
Love is taking a one way train to the big apple and seeing where the wind blows us.
Love looks like a family having fun.
Love is like having a red string tied to your finger, not knowing who has the other end.
Love sounds like laughter filling the room.
Love is love.
Love is you.
Love is being able to be you.
Love is the feeling of joy upon arriving to the beach—the waves and water pulling you into one another, pulling you back after a big crash.
Love is unpredictable.
Love can be the feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you see a certain someone.
Though Cupid is firing love at first sight, that may not be the type of love you need.
Love is neither good nor bad; it is both. It can do many things to people—it can blind them, it can hurt them, it can destroy them, but it can also free them, and it can also save them.
Love is not like saying I have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. It’s about family and how much you worry and care about them.
Saying you love someone is not the same as showing that you love them.
If you love something, you would not change it for anything or anyone.
Love is supposed to be amazing, fun, and easy.
Love sounds like you saying goodnight and closing the door.
Love is like the flowers we smell when they spread out in the garden.
Love is the candy we savor.
Love is enjoying the view of a lake with someone.
Love is someone who every day makes you feel that spark of happiness in your heart.
It’s being able to sit next to someone without it being awkward.
Love is randomly calling someone just because you wanted to say hi.
Love isn’t always kisses and hugs.
Love is action.
Love can be the taste of your favorite food that waters your mouth.
Love can be your blanket that makes you want to stay in bed all day.
Love can be your shoes.
Love is the secret to happiness.
Love is happiness.
Love tastes like strawberries with nutella and smells like juicy oranges.
Love is sympathy.
Love feels like going for a swim in an indoor pool during a hot summer.
Love is blind.
Love is odd, but can get so powerful.
Love is like sun shining when it’s been cloudy.
Love is like an amusement park.
How can one word have so many meanings and cause so much feeling?
Love is the key to your heart.
We chose to love.
Love is a good thing.
Love cannot be explained.
No combination of 26 letters can capture what this feeling is like.
Love is waiting for you upon the stars.
Bridge Ink 