Stories about Love That We Love!
Happy Valentine’s Day, Split Lip Mag readers! Love is in the air, and no matter what form of devotion you plan on celebrating, we hope your day is filled with joy and warmth! If you’re looking for something to dive into this holiday, Split Lip has you covered. Here are some love-filled recommendations from our archive that we hope you—well, love.
First up is Sam Hershel Wein’s “Vegetable Condominiums.” This poem manages to make cauliflower sound appealing with its whimsical, lighthearted, and endearing depiction of intimacy. Who could ask for more?!
Alas, with love comes loss, and Jeff Woof’s memoir, “What Time Is It?” is a beautiful reflection of that. It tells a story of a man, his wife, and their unconditional love despite lost memories and the passage of time. If you want to cry, this one’s for you.
Time carries with it the characters in Ariele Le Grand’s flash fiction, “The Lines You Cross.” What really tethers them together? Their shared, though slippery, memory. But, maybe they are holding onto a love that never did quite fit.
In reality, love can often feel more adjacent to longing. Deesha Philyaw’s memoir, “Water Come Back to You: On Trying to Write About Love,” explores her creative process when trying to write about a “good” love she’s never had. It’s real, it’s raw, and it resonates with us.
The idea of love is typically rooted in partnership, but perhaps independence is what’s needed to fly. Lucy Zhang’s fiction, “Any Respectable Distance,” uses Jian birds as a central metaphor for a couple’s differing perspectives, questioning conventional beliefs about what love requires.
After all, romance is not all what Valentine’s Day is made for. “Galentine’s Day,” a poem by Kurt David, is an ode to friendship. We love this piece because of its playful use of language that reminds us to cherish our platonic relationships.
Or, maybe you’re in love with a baseball bat. We’re not joking. Cathy Ulrich’s flash fiction, “A Pitcher Like You,” seems satirical on the surface, but symbolizes something so much deeper. This story follows a star pitcher and her view on all-consuming love. Home run!
“Rob Bumble,” a fiction by Catie Karasik, is messy. That is, the relationship it portrays encompasses ups, downs, and aftermaths of the absurdity of dating within an internet age. The dark humorous tone in this piece is simply to die for.
Finally, the flash fiction, “The Book I Found in the $1 Bin” by Richard Mirabella emphasizes the emotional weight love imposes. Imagination and history mingle in this piece to frame love as something boundless. We recommend it for its quiet hope and its tribute to the way love forever lingers.
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Evangeline Lim is currently pursuing English and Media Studies as a freshman at the University of California Berkeley. She is an intern at Split Lip Magazine, and a weekender staffer at The Daily Californian. Outside of reading and writing, she loves trying new restaurants, watching romcoms, and her pet turtle, Murdtle.