LOVING: Poetry and Art edited by Charles...

LOVING: Poetry and Art edited by Charles Sullivan (Abrams: $29.95) Even if you’re a nervous sentimentalist-- especially if you’re a nervous sentimentalist--there’s still time to give this book to your valentine. The goopy poetry stuff is well couched in tasteful reproductions of highly respectable pieces of art and photographs of lovers and lovees (like the above photo by Kishin Shinoyama of Yoko Ono and John Lennon). And while poetry and art can be strange bedfellows in book form, here they play off each other nicely. INTO THE GARDEN: A WEDDING ANTHOLOGY: Poetry and Prose on Love and Marriage edited by Robert Haas and Stephen Mitchell (Harper Collins: $20.) Here are some readings on love and marriage, ceremonies and vows by such authors as Rainer Maria Rilke, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, and Pablo Neruda. Also, songs and poems and ceremonies from other cultures: the Abanaki, the Aborigines, the Rumis. In the end, contrary to what we learn from TV and some movies, it seems to be a good idea. HEARTS: The Art of Making Gifts of Love and Affection by Juliet Bawden, photographs by Debbie Patterson (Simon & Schuster: $23.) When poetry and literature fail, do something with your hands. Make a papier-mache heart, or a quilt, or some heart-shaped cookies. This will take your mind off things. Give them to your beloved.