This Quiet Love
This is a quiet love
One of simplicity and easiness
No complications here
It’s too late in life for that sort of thing
Just time to be best friends
© Ken Chawkin
October 22, 2006
Fairfield, Iowa
I wrote this poem around 8 years and 4 months ago at the recognition of a growing friendship I was sharing with someone special. I realized I was enjoying a different kind of love at this stage of my life, and it was good. Earlier attempts at love in relationships had been disappointing—unrequited, romantic, irresponsible, tempestuous, lustful, and in the end, unfulfilled. I didn’t think true love was possible, or if it even existed.
And then it happened, but not all at once. We had met briefly 10 years earlier, then forgot. After we unknowingly reconnected, a story in itself, love took some time to blossom, to be earned. She was UNDECIDED about being COMMITTED. Through each stage, poems would flow forth; she became my muse. All poems listed in the sub-category Sally Peden are about Sali, except the first 3, which were written by her about a visit To Jyotir Math with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Later my love would be tested when An Unwanted Guest came to live with us. Eventually we would have to live apart, which lead to the Dementia Blues. But Sally’s Smile would continue to uplift me and all those around her. Many changes continue to transform our lives, each in our own way. I never would have imagined this kind of development, but This Quiet Love continues to sustain me. As does the love of my family, my children and my siblings, for which I am truly grateful.
And even with the ongoing decline, Sally continues to maintain her essential nature.
See this #RomanticPoem for #ValentinesDay: i carry your heart with me by e.e. cummings. See Our Meditation Love Poem for Valentine’s Day, and other beautiful love poems posted on The Uncarved Blog.
See this most recent post, December 8, 2016, Capturing an authentic moment in writing, Being with Sali, August 1, 2012, on a full moon night. It concludes with an update, of Sali’s passing, October 1, 2016, with a link to a blog post by Valerie Gangas, Life in Love with You, describing her personal response to Sali’s Memorial Service and Vedic Cremation Ceremony, which took place on October 5, 2016.
Here is the most recent update, December 28, 2016: An early attempt at some kind of closure with a poem on Sali’s passing and auspicious times.
And, as a reminder, the poem, Love After Love by Derek Walcott, profoundly describes the basis for any love relationship, knowing and loving your self.
See these Final entries leading up to and after Sali’s passing. And this recent entry with photos and stories: For Us—a tanka honoring Sali and what we shared.
I would later record This Quiet Love and two other love poems for Sali (COMMITTED and In Our Loving Eyes) for a 2019 Valentine’s Day program on KHOE, MUM’s campus radio station. Click here to read and listen to them.
Tags: compassion, friendship, love poem, Quiet Love, spiritual love, This Quiet Love
The Uncarved Blog 
February 14, 2015 at 12:39 pm |
This quiet love
Me gustas cuando callas porque estas como ausente, y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te toca. Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca…
Pablo Neruda
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December 16, 2022 at 8:47 pm |
Pablo, I just started watching Ardiente Paciencia, Burning Patience, on Netflix. Very early in the film those words by Pablo Naruda are quoted, and later in the film it’s sung to music. This is Chile’s first film on Netflix. It’s in Spanish with English subtitles. I think you would enjoy it. I loved it. https://www.netflix.com/title/81357648
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February 15, 2015 at 12:34 pm |
I enjoyed this story of your growing love. It’s never easy, but always worth the effort. Thanks for sharing.
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January 5, 2016 at 11:06 pm |
[…] I also told her about the eternal nature of love, of our love. Circumstances may change—we get old, sick, and die, but that part of us goes on, is eternal. I do believe that love is our essential nature. If we reincarnate, come back, we look for it, for that person who radiated it, reflected it back to us, with whom we shared the unifying fulfilling magic of a more enlightening love. […]
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July 17, 2016 at 12:34 am |
[…] took Sali to her dental appointment last Friday. While waiting for the dental hygienist to come in and clean […]
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August 2, 2016 at 7:37 pm |
[…] sometimes get depressed seeing what’s happening to my sweetheart over time. She has dementia and lives in a care […]
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October 17, 2016 at 5:27 am |
Life in Love with You: My friend Valerie Gangas posted this beautiful account of her personal transformational experience at Sali’s recent memorial and Vedic cremation ceremony. I thanked her and posted a comment leading back to this poem. https://www.valeriegangas.com/journal/life-in-love-with-you
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December 20, 2016 at 10:38 am |
[…] poem, This Quiet Love, with links to others, will give you an understanding of our relationship, and what Sali meant to […]
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December 28, 2016 at 12:24 am |
[…] years later in the fall of 2003, as if for the first time. A beautiful friendship would grow and transform our lives, a story worth writing one […]
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March 12, 2017 at 12:24 pm |
[…] the next day, March 13. Even though she passed Oct 1, 2016, Sali still inspires me. I miss her, but This Quiet Love we shared doesn’t diminish. Here is a new poem for […]
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July 1, 2017 at 1:17 pm |
[…] months on July 1st since my sweetheart passed. Sali was a fellow devotee on the spiritual path, my best friend and muse. I have written many poems for, about, and because of her. Most of them are on this blog. […]
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February 14, 2019 at 9:00 pm |
[…] This Quiet Love […]
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July 20, 2019 at 10:13 am |
[…] would read this and two other love poems for Sali (COMMITTED and This Quiet Love) on a Valentine’s Day program recorded for KHOE, MUM’s campus radio station, in 2019. […]
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July 20, 2019 at 10:21 am |
[…] would record this and two other love poems for Sali (This Quiet Love and In Our Loving Eyes) for a 2019 Valentine’s Day program on KHOE, MUM’s campus radio station. […]
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July 20, 2019 at 10:57 am |
[…] would later record these love poems for Sali — COMMITTED, This Quiet Love, and In Our Loving Eyes — for a 2019 Valentine’s Day program on KHOE, MUM’s campus radio […]
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