mad lib love letter

I [verb] you.

I really want to say that.

You are [article] thing most [adjective]

In my [noun.]  

Twisting this note around a [noun]

Is the fall,

And if all the [noun, pl.]

Tumbled out of your mouth,

It’d be like a 

[noun] of Babel 

To what?

To who?

To [interrogative pronoun]?

Shall your heart be [present participle] to?

[Verb] in the blank

With the first [noun]

That crosses your mind –

Interpret that word as you like, regressively.

For I like

[pronoun]

And I [verb] as well –

The heart is like a moon,

Like a [noun]

Unleashed from everything you know about it –

Your knowledge, your [noun] like a cage --

So that it can roam free just like that perfect [noun]

In the democracy of [noun].

In which

The word is [adjective]

And the blank is more powerful yet.

Nolens volens, you pick the word –

[verb] to spell it out, 

And know that the only truth

Is what your understanding [verb].

Michael T. Smith is an Associate Professor of English who teaches both writing and film courses. He has published roughly 300 pieces (poetry and prose) in over 100 different journals.