Valentine
He brushes my hair in long smooth strokes
and paints my toes in gem-hued color.
He writes me love letters spelled in candy,
and pink post-it notes with names inside an arrowed heart.
We have rocky pinnacle adventures, and drive-in sunsets,
content in a roadside puddle of mud as long as hands hold fast.
He leaves the blinds wide open,
long past the evening sky has gone carnelian, and topaz, and jade,
until the star designed night holds firefly glimmer,
Christmas wonder, fissured lightning, moon shadow on snow.
Then he fills my home with rheostated lamps and scented candles.
There is light, all I want, every day, all I want.
He shamelessly promotes my meager talents,
culling tunes from awkward fingertips, holding harmonies within my range,
collecting dreams on paper scribed with industry from bed,
my happiness his unsolicited ambition, his passion, his desire, his goal.
I wish I had the words, but then, my eyes and smile may say it best.
I sing, I dance, I write. I play. I shine in my own way.
He doesn’t turn aside on days when I’m still haunted,
when demons and the dark souled things reach in to stake their claim,
but fights the snakes about our feet with edged archangel fury.
And when questioned, “Is it just infatuation, just vulnerability, just need?”
He soothes in affirmation, “It is just real, just fine, just good.”
God knows he’s crazier than I am, or just maybe half a step more sane.
I could be a little shorter; he could be a little taller.
I egress the house in slippers to grocery shop in drooping sweats.
He sweeps the basement floor bare footed and without his glasses.
Together we counter my dour grumpage with his silly sentiment.
Endearments, adornments, and embellishments perfume my practicality.
We are intimately balanced. We are ultimately mismatched.
In truth, neither garlic, nor onion, nor good Limburger cheese
could deter determined lips from tasting mine.
If I could get fat on hugs and kisses I would be a circus freak.
When we’ve grown old together and Alzheimer’s has set in,
I may not remember his name, but I WILL remember how we loved.
How we love. We are devotion, compassion, We are humor, grace, faith.
Author notes
Written February 18th, 2006
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Spectacular!
wow. this is absolutely fabulous work! the feeling and the calm assurance in this love that you have is great and it really seems like a love that will last. founded on more then just that swoop of being in love is the beauty of loving. two completely different things that are riddled throughout this piece. props to you! -
Amazing
this poem is amazing.. how we all wish for love like this.. such great feeling and word use in this that im amazed... keep up the good work and thank you for sharing.. Nessa -
Happy
This is beautiful Sis! And what a wonderful valentine present to give to your Guardian Angel! Both of you have gone through so much together that you value all you have! After reading this, I can see that you have a lot! -
Exquisite!
This is beyond compare my friend! your love shines through as sure as the sun rises and sets; day after day. The little things that others would pass over, are here in this piece of writing, showing the world how simple, how beautiful, how unsurpassing is your love for this man who stands beside you in all you do. Love such as you share will always stand the test of time... the dark shadows may try to ensnare you from time to time, yet, what chance do they have of ever again being able to drown you in their efforts... they will never succeed, because you have your very own Guardian Angel right beside you always
~Katie~
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This is a most wonderful write, i thoroughly enjoyed the read Josephine.
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