VALENTINE'S DAY or WHY FEBRUARY?

This silly little thing was written in February in the depths of the winter blahs!


VALENTINE'S DAY

(why February)

Should we move Valentine’s day?
Why does St. Valentine’s day have to fall in February?
I mean, someone had to choose to put it there.
didn’t they?
It’s not like it is his birthday or deathday
or even his wedding anniversary.
(besides, I think he was a monk,
and could even have been celibate)
Why February?
It could be in the summer!
We could lay by the pool,
naked flesh slathered with ointments
to keep from being fricaseed
and to drive off ravenous bugs
desiring to feast on our blood.
But no – it has to be in February.
A month when the grey naked trees
seem to be tiptoeing,
skirts lifted, across the horizon,
trying to keep their feet
out of the mud
and traces of grimy snow,
left in little ridges
where they were dumped by the plows.
Not a pretty sight.
It could be in the summer!
But then,
perhaps,
February needs Valentine’s day.
Perhaps putting it in February
was actually a stroke of genius,
causing the yukkies to disappear
under the warm glow of love remembered,
present, or hoped for.
Love is stronger than mud!

.