Calendar - Feb 19 2022

 

Calendar

Feb 19 2022

There isn't much, after Valentine's Day,

no reprieve

from the long slog of winter.

When the chocolates

in the heart shaped box

have all been eaten,

the wilted roses

thrown away.

Romance was in the air;

now, the smell of boiled cabbage

from down the hall

seeps in under the door.

St. Patrick's, I guess.

Another saint,

although this one ended peacefully;

dying in bed

instead of losing his head

to a vengeful pagan Emperor.

And not love, but drunkenness,

carnal red

replaced with green.

So perhaps

the only thing to look forward to

is spring.

Not a man-made occasion

or artificial revelry

but Mother Nature's light and warmth,

rebirth, and reawakening

after too many months

of dormancy and dark. 

The seasons

that have come and gone for millions of years

indifferent to us.

My Valentines was not debauched

I don't plan to get drunk.

But I will be out in spring

in the unaccustomed light;

bare feet

in cool green grass,

my sun-warmed face

turned up to the sky.

A small trifle. Something to scratch my writing itch.

Of all the times of the year – when a break is most needed – to have such a long drought between official holidays!