Put your heart on the line

Can you feel the flutter?

The expectation of what needs to be done

on one cold short day

Am I a winner because I am taken?

Or do I miss the taste of freedom

that singularity brings

I am expected to wear a shade of lips

that mirror a cherry in the heat

of the summer.

And a dress that matches the

shadowed color of red

All this, just one short day

Show love in other ways

That way on a cold day in February

You too feel the freedom,

Free of expectation.

If January had shattered me like glass

February was the shards that were left upon the floor

we were short, and sharp, and dangerous

leaving scars upon both of our hearts

broken broken broken

and there was no winner in our desperate grasp for freedom

shadowed by the force in which we crashed to the ground

You were red- a cherry, burning red

and I was blue- ice cold, leaching color

and together all we were was

broken broken broken

pieces of shatter glass upon the floor

Month of between times

Neither winter nor spring

Whose short days

Taunt of warmth they do not bring

Cherry trees that do peak in

Through frost tinged window panes

Silently waiting spring times release

Freedom to burst forth blossom and vein

Yet the ice cold heart of winter

Mutes sunlight within gray shadows of blue

And time changes pace for no man

Winter releases to spring when it is due

I’m saddened to see that the lone, barren tree

No longer holds cherry pink flowers.

The sky is dark gray and the forecast today

Is for intermittent showers.

Winter is here although Spring may be near

If the groundhog cannot see his shadow.

Since ice has been thinner, seems Spring is the winner

While Winter days laze short and slow.

And although in my heart I’d prefer Spring to start,

Winter’s freedom rules when to depart.

Cold and blue.

Icicles forever,

Nothing to look forward to.

No, I never had a Valentine.

No love this month, or ever.

The freedom of a wildebeest

Roaming the Serengeti

While avoiding the lion.

Temptation.

In search of a winner to soothe the heart

Shadowed by the constant dread of rejection,

Take a risk in the coldest month of the year.

Not the time to crave ice cream with a cherry on top

But life is short, indulge.

It melts quickly, as cold things often do

The pain will go away,

a new season to follow.

With cherry cheeks,

My heart now leaks

The color I see is red.

Thanks to the winner,

Who took you to dinner

And now you are to wed.

Shadowed by grief,

Freedom was brief

as the bullet entered his head.

The plan, short but sweet.

Now we are complete,

While he rots under our bed.

Short

Sweet

like a cherry

And the month of hearts

freedom

spring

close

yet shadowed

maybe a winner

maybe a loser

but still

its cold

but close

to spring

It's February

The silent month

When I miss so many

and I wish I could dress

time like a sundae with

a cherry on top

The shadow of early dusk

is lifting but still I am shadowed

with the lack of freedom

of cold

of memories I cannot push into

the cupboards of my mind.

Icy umbra dig into my soul

questioning

undermining

commiserating with doubt

And on the shelf,

proudly displayed

the blue ribbons

the trophies

medals

of a life so foreign now

I wonder if the triumph of my

glory years truly belong to me

Am I the winner as the

display proclaims?

or merely the dreamer

who never really tried?

In short am I the impostor from another life?

Tell me who was the winner

of the first battle

and the year long war?

Was it you all along?

Or is your newfound freedom

shadowed in regret?

ejected at last into cold space

no longer tied to a home

I imagine you curled up and crying

without a roof to fix or a lawn to mow

It couldn't have been me

the love came up so short

the cherry was smaller than the pit

my tooth chipped on the stone

Imagine me crying when I

threw the diamond and gold away

Along with everything else

nothing works without you here

you could only fix machines

and clumsily break human beings

The house is empty

my heart is too

February reminds me of you