This collection of verses and art began as a poetic song for my son, Michael, and for Lauren, his wife-to-be. The world then changed and love poems found other avenues. My son and fiancé had to postpone their wedding. He finished his MBA virtually; we watched his commencement speeches online, at home instead of there. WAs God or the Universe, reaching into my mind and heart, leading me to rethink a book of Love poems? I changed that question to one I can answer. I wrote more poems. Some of the poems come from the time when I became a young adult. Music then made life brighter coming from a generation that wanted to see the world through the lens of love and change saying, “All you need is love,” I then learned new ways of looking at straight lines and rules.
As I continued to grow, these collective works support Loving Sideways and life’s progression in all directions. The world has changed again as we grapple with the Pandemic of 2020. What has started as a collection of love poems now finds balance in my new realities, my experience still expressed through poetry. Again life has turned sideways, if not upside down. We live in a world of social distancing, the title of this book has taken on new meanings in love for me.
dona.michelini@gmail.com