Free Love Poems Offered at Long Beach Airport for Valentine’s Day – Orange County Register

Travelers strolling through Long Beach Airport on Tuesday, February 14 may encounter a surprisingly romantic experience — with the airport repeating its pop-up Valentine’s Day Love Poem experience.

Poet and author Brian Sonia-Wallace, equipped with an antique Remington typewriter, will offer Long Beach travelers an impromptu poem about their love stories at the airport from 5pm to 7pm to commemorate the heartfelt vacation.

“Long Beach Airport will host Sonia-Wallace to offer travelers flying on Valentine’s Day a unique experience – the opportunity to create a customized love poem for their significant other while they wait for their flight,” reads a press release by LGB. “Using an antique Remington typewriter from the days when air travel was a glamorous luxury, Sonia-Wallace will ask participants to tell their love stories to be immortalized on the spot in a poem that will be given to them as a gift.”

For the lovers on the shy side, a second typewriter will be available to compose personal messages and love letters.

According to an LGB press release, Sonia-Wallace began writing poetry for strangers in 2012 – which led to the creation of his company RENT Poet, whose mission is “to connect people through ink in a connected world,” according to the website. The company was spotlighted on NPR’s “How I Built This,” and Sonia-Wallace’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Rolling Stone and The Guardian.

He is also West Hollywood’s current Poet Laureate.

This year marks the second iteration of the holiday pop-up and Sonia-Wallace’s return to Long Beach Airport for the Valentine’s Day celebration. The first pop-up was in 2020.

“I look forward to returning to the airport on this auspicious day,” Sonia-Wallace said in the press release. “Being able to write here again is an emotional moment. And what could be better than Valentine’s Day, when we can invite travelers in transit to reflect on love – who they are traveling with or to, or who they are looking forward to when they return home.”

The pop-up is located in the terminal behind the Transportation Security Administration check-in, so it’s only available to ticketed travelers.