Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day

There it was staring up at my face.
I tore the January page
from my desk calendar
"Valentine's Day" screamed
from the fairly quiet month of February.

We survived the poor groundhog
being rousted out of his hole,
and somewhere in there was
President's Day.
Now leaning over it all,
like an angry cherub
fueling up for
a late night arrow shooting fest,
lurked Valentine's Day.

My cell phone rang
while I was nearly hypnotized
with the monotony of
cross checking the current dates
of military publication.

"Honey what are you getting me
for Valentine's this year?"
It was the kind of panic inducing question
that intrudes upon a thoughtless man's day.
I really had no idea,
hadn't even given it a thought.

"Don't worry I have something for you already."
I never realized how fast
someone who loves you
can push your day
from the slow lane
to the edge of a downward slide
into oblivion.

There it was staring up at my face.
I tore the January page
from my desk calendar
"Valentine's Day" screamed
from the fairly quiet month of February.

Valentine’s Day