For My Valentine

Seems we've known each other

forever, but still I want 

to give you something

special for Valentine’s Day.

Maybe just a few words

polished and presented—

a poem perhaps, or a story—

something 

that would mean something—

like small sips of kindness

breathed 

into brightly-colored balloons,

or a package tied

with swirls of ribbon

too pretty to pull apart.

Of course, packages like that

seldom 

live up to their promise.

Once I received

a box of long-stemmed roses

from a man 

who was tall and elegant

and wore costly leather gloves

while I wore frazzled wool.

The roses were beautiful,

but not half as beautiful

as the wilting dandelions

I received years later

from the scrunched fist

of the curly-haired child

in muddy sneakers

who traipsed across my

just-mopped kitchen floor

to give them to me

with a kiss 

and an I love you.

That was the spring 

I learned that a real gift

is like a break-away balloon—

love-filled and unexpected.