Love is a feeling best expressed through art.

Poetry fans collectively swooned at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library during its inaugural poetry reading on Valentine’s Day.

From Credo to Shakespeare, NOTL poets and authors Jamie Mainprize, Holmes Hooke, and Valmai and David Elkins took listeners through a journey with poems about romantic love, friendship and pets.

Readers shared their personal experiences in the world of words, from studying under Irving Layton to playing touch football with Graeme Gibson, making for an interesting and special hour of sharing. 

David Elkins, the organizer of the presentation, started off the session with a poem by Leonard Cohen plus a tidbit about his life.

“Leonard Cohen lived down the street from us in Montreal for a while,” said Elkins.

“He was a great poet right from the beginning,”

Valmai Elkins, an esteemed author, spoke about her time studying under Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Oliver and recited a few of her poems, including “The Sweetness of Dogs,” a change of pace from typical romantic love prose. 

Guests and presenters alike were happy to be in the midst of accomplished NOTL poets and David Elkins hopes to have another event later this year.

“We will try for the fall, a Thanksgiving reading.”