The swaying leaves from a tree
Remind me
A bit of me,
and a bit of you—

Were blunt with your sadness
Where I did not need
A sight of you
To know you’re in a hue of
Dark Blue

Barely standing, you were
In shivers from a freezing cold
The cold—
A sharp hue of darkened gray
Convinced you
That there was no sunlight to step out into anyway

Maybe,
It was the faint scent of a sad rain
Lingering over you
A crisp scent— that clearly drew me into
An all too familiar feeling.

I’ll be honest today. No covers
I prepared this virtual bouquet
I love all of you. My dear lovers
Hence, happy Valentine’s Day

Care is such a strong word,
A word, perhaps by chance
Or decision--
Evoking an emotion,
A stronger intention

But why?
Do I
Feel knees weak
When I realized
That I was caring for you?

So, my love! come
and give me a hug,
or tug me in your mantle
like you do to the wind,

Take me with you
where you go
Inhaling me little by little,
And once I'm all spent,
breath in me life
with a KISS!

Clearly,
Without a denial of any
You had a hold of a string I've held so dearly
You weren't sure what it was
But you were certain--
You didn't have that
Kind of string

So you tug into it
And you tug into it some more
You tug it just enough to get a hold of a string I've held so dearly

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/
poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

                   A Saint Valentine’s Day Gift for my Daughter
                                Who Lives Far Away

Sunday Morning
Via electrical mail

Dear Child,

An agent of the federal government
May or may not deliver a package to you
Tomorrow, or not just one but maybe two
Or maybe one package at one time and

Maybe the second package at another
Or maybe there is only one package
Or maybe two, or, like Schrodinger's Cat
You may consider that there is a package

In your mailbox and be content with that
As a perception of reality

Love,


Your Old Dad

be mine

on this lovers day

red velvet russian roulette

and blood worn lingerie

our chaos swept the city

now a vacant town is our ballroom

the Romeo to my Juliet

“Where art thou?”

I know you hear me calling you.

No lock on the chains today
There is nothing left for you to say
Besides you can't put me on display
No way that I'll stay
Sound okay?

Pick the color, the style
Tell me to sit, stay a while
Wanting to go the extra mile
Not this time

Couldn't get me last time
Won't get me again
No matter the song or rhyme
The roses and then
The same old ****t
Year after year
Don't call me "dear"

Gifts and a meal
Won't make this dream of yours real
I won't play pretend
Can't this game just end?

Let me do what I please
Let me have a day of ease
Maybe sitting under the shade of trees
Enjoying the delicate breeze
Just let me seize
The day for myself
Instead of sitting quietly on a shelf

- Jay M
January 29th, 2021