I held your hand as you disentangled from her
you did not move closer to me

I assuaged your worst fears
you fueled mine

I was fully present and attentive
you took calls that came in . . . and didn’t call back

I asked questions
you answered different ones

I made you a playlist
you never acknowledged

I made plans and reservations
you did not show

I gave you the benefit of every doubt
you did not reassure me

I made myself vulnerable
you remained ensconced

I created space in my life
you did not explore

I dared to dream about us
you dreamed about . . . I don’t know

I gave you my body
you reached for your phone

I gave you my heart
you did not reciprocate

I get it now
you are just not that into me

Only wish I knew sooner.
Goodbye.

I sent a girl a valentine
Decorated with ink hearts
& ink smile.

I addressed it to her
Her name written as a rose.
Ink heart underlining the stem.

I folded the paper
& Cut it into a heart.
How clumsy of me to have
Cut so much off.

The paper unfolded into
five other mini hearts.
The biggest one being my heart.

I sent a girl a valentine
Decorating it with a trail that
leads back to my heart.
How clumsy of me to forget to sign my name

When I think of you.
The first thing that comes to mind is your smile.
I always find it at the most unexpected time.
Coming across it in a world where everything seems cold.
Although it's been a short time.
This smile of yours is selfless; kind, patient.
Although Valentine's Day is highly celebrated.
Out of three-hundred sixty-four days.
I hope that your able to smile your biggest smile.
On days when your schedule is full
On days when your tired and look forward to the minute you get to yourself.
When I think of you.
I hope that you are still courageous enough to turn that frown upside down
In a world where everything seems so cold,
You never know how big an impact you make,
With something as simple as a smile.
How fast time flies when your lips reveal this gift
that you constantly give

They say, a rose by any other...,
Would still smell as sweet....
Every 9 seconds a woman is *****
By someone who says he loves her.
Give a real gift to sisters,
And brothers, all, reach one,
And teach one, to not be a
Link in that patriarchal chain,
Not adding to that number of
Humanity's bane, not a statistic
in la machine's game, ever;
From this Valentine Day on.

Love, lies in our emotions
Configuring the chambers of how we feel
In our veins, nerves, and imperfections
That thread to make our curves

Around each maze
The heart senses a new direction to turn
Sensations of familiarity begin to burn

This hurts, not having anyone to love
As I sense myself running in my own maze

With only one mission

To find inside of me, the hope that lies above
Above the darkness in our hate
In the struggles and obstacles we break
And for the moments of glory
That we sometimes cease to create

So I'll swim in this dense river
A body of love like water
And rise above this surface I bleed
So I can rid the hate of this world
And find a way for us to
Truly love another.

A day of love, a day of hearts:
Valentine's Day, twenty eighteen.
The day started out like any other
But ended in a horrific scene.

Students in Parkland, Florida,
Shared their valentines today.
A former student entered the school
To celebrate in a different way.

An AR-15 assault-style rifle
Was that student's valentine.
Killing and hurting students and teachers
Was his version of "Please be mine."

All it takes is a single person
To drag a special day through the mud.
Roses and hearts with Cupid's arrow
Lie on the ground, splattered with blood.

Are we failing our people here?
When shootings occur, we ask for prayers
Instead of taking appropriate measures.
What a sad state of affairs!

Most of us enjoy our day;
Our lives return to normal tomorrow.
Valentine's Day for people in Parkland
Forever will be suffused with sorrow.
In memory of the victims of the 2/14/18 shooting