A poem from a dad to a daughter for valentines day

As I explained in my Valentine’s poem last year, my Dad was a secret poet and I didn’t find out until after he died so every now and then, I like to do something special for Olivia. Be it drawing a picture and posting it to her or writing and then reading a poem. Below is this year’s attempt at bringing together a game we enjoy playing and referencing places she knows.

It took me an hour to write (on the train from Gravesend to London Waterloo) and I hope it gives you some ideas or the motivation to give it a go yourself. I’m no poet laureate so I hope the effort and personal nature of the poem demonstrates to her that I love her with all my heart.

To Olivia,

From here to the beach at Margate,
(But not stopping there: mustn’t be late!)

Onwards to Paris and further still:
To Italy, Rome and Greece if you will.

On past the place that you love the most:
(that’s Turkey of course and the Turquoise coast)

To Moscow, Berlin and Johannesburg to,
To Canada and Alaska where it’s too cold for you.

To the Moon and back,
And not only that!

Around the Globe, twice
(Or perhaps even thrice!)

To the bottom of the Ocean,
(And that’s a craaazy notion!)

But why all this way?

Why don’t I just say,
I love you how much?

I love you this much.

Dad
Xxx

I should explain that Olivia and I have a little game we play in the car or, thinking about it, pretty much any time where one of us will choose a number and say that they love the other that much.

“Olivia?”

“Yes Daddy?”

“I love you 5!”

“I love you 6!”

etc. etc.

It quickly escalates from there with numbers getting bigger and bigger until we get to physical descriptions of space.

“I love you to Turkey! AND back!” (Olivia has had a couple of holidays there and she has a rough idea of where it is and how long it takes to get there)

Eventually we run out of descriptions of things and go totally abstract:

“I love you chocolate buttons!”

“I love you swings!”

It usually ends in fits of giggles and a big hug (assuming we’re not in the car – that would be dangerous…)

If you’ve written a poem or tale for your kids, do share the story in the comments. I’d love to hear what other parents are making of it.