Velvet lips

A ruby hue

Panting for

The mist

Of dawn

The scent

Of life wafts

On her breath

Thorns of passion

In her

Grasp

Painted with

The brush

Of beauty

Mingled with

The shadows

Of suffering

Let today be the day

That all love is recognized.

It is not the day of lovers,

But the day of the loved.

Celebrate those who have found

Another to share their heart with,

And celebrate the heart in your chest

That has grown and been broken.

Let love not go to waste,

But grow and flourish.

Oh you were magic all right.

The cheap kind of magic.

The nonbeliever kind of magic.

The kind of magic meant to impress.

The only for show kind of magic.

And when you found I was unimpressed,

You left me for a more gullible audience.

I can see it.

I can see it right there, at the bottom of the emerald pool,

Bright and shining like I can reach out and touch it.

And so I do.

I reach my hand in the pool

And it's so close...

But I can't quite reach...

My arm goes in

Chill creeping up into my chest

Reaching, reaching 

Just a little farther...

I duck in my head and torso

Feet lifting off the ground

It hasn't moved...still so close

I plunge in

My whole body in the icy pool

I swim down, down

The cold gripping my heart

The bottom never coming closer

I surface, gasping for air

Salty tears

Frustration

I can't reach it

Helpless.

Sipping cocoa while listening

To the whisper of snowflakes

Falling outside

Candlelight glimmering off

Ribbons and bows filling the air

With sparkles of reds, golds

And silvers

And the magic found in the

Excitement mirrored in

Children’s eyes early

Christmas morn

What is it for

you?