I saw a sticker on a car coming home from work this afternoon.
One of those "international ovals" that used to indicate a foreign country
like France, Switzerland or, if you believe the TV commercials,
Detroit.

Now they stand for everything from the local swim team
to the driver's favorite species of dog
although pinning it on the driver might be unfair
probably better to say the owner.

The sticker I saw today, and it was a sticker not a magnet,
it was stuck on the window,
was OLF and it made me miss mom more than yesterday,
Mother's Day, did.

OLF stands for Our Lady of Fatima, the local Catholic Church
and it was adorning an SUV of appropriate size and sticker price for these parts.
Mom always called Fatima, Saint Olaf's because everyone around here calls it OLF
so it wasn't her fault.

Every time I, or my wife, politely corrected her she'd reply,
"I know" and then promptly call it Olaf's ten minutes later.
So today waiting for the green light on the way home
a little sadness as St. Olaf's SUV reminded me of mom.

and
I laughed.

I had always thought I was seamless until now
that my skin was smooth
that you couldn't see the lines of my personality,
only where they should be

but the other day I could swear you pulled a string off my shoulder
and it never stopped unraveling
I'm quickly falling to pieces
just a pile of thread where there once was cloth

I'm just a pile of wool thread that used to be a beautiful sweater.

You unravel me
and I can't make it stop.

I don’t think it takes much to fall in love

Sweet whispers of cute nothing’s

dance through your head

because some fool

spoke a new language to you

and every word 
was magic 

and with every word 
you fell

and your heart 
began to love his voice

And the simple smile

that shines in his eyes 

like the stars at night 

and only a few see it

because most are asleep 
when the stars are awake
 and soon the stars twinkle at you

and you fall

The way his hand 
made you feel  
like the dust
 dancing in the sunlight 

light as air
and 
full of simple beauty 

and with his touch
 you fell

And by now it’s too late

because you fell for his

voice

smile

eyes
 and touch

Love

but for you darling 
I hope it doesn’t happen often

because to have it once forever

is much better 
than millions of times 

if you fall too much

you’ll eventually break