That Word Valentine

For that one word

That would change 

Everything in the world

I searched through

All the languages I could

Or has it been already spoken

Edens ago and then forgotten

And we are left living

In its echo the one

Delicate subtle tender word

You whispered to me

We were standing in the dark 

Waiting for the sun you rose

I know I heard it 

Lord Wait Up Valentine

You knocked

But I sat waiting

For the second knock

Which would mean

You meant it

Bit it never came

Which meant 

You really meant it

Once and for all

And would still be

Standing there knowing

I had heard them

Those three sharp raps

And had better hurry up 

Quick Quiz Valentine

Would you be a simple shepherd

Or a Queen who keeps sheep

Would you have fields 

Carved into labyrinths 

And a glittering fountain

Or sleep alone under

Flowering stars

Waiting for the wolf

Would you prefer

Long journeys or a few

Valleys and hills

When you take them to market

Do you celebrate with wine 

Or weep with them farewell 

Nuance Over Numbers Valentine

You know how

Some people just aren't

Good at Math

At adding things up

They follow their feelings

Down some darker roads

They know what's clever

Doesn't always matter

What is beautiful for them

Is not to sit in a cage

Counting their money

Rich or poor

They hear the footsteps

Of their father coming home

Running to meet him

To give him one more chance 

Homesick Valentine

The voices of the dead

Ramble through my head

Hearing without ears

Seeing without eyes

I think heaven is no vacation

From what they tell me

Those first years of hardship 

Getting settled in

Long hours in the fields

Rest but no sleep

Working our way back

It's strange we feel better

In heaven but still

Long for the earth

Where we were born 

Your Summer Is My Winter Valentine

When I can't move forward

I go back tracing my steps

To where I lost my mind

To where I left my glasses

 

My soul is still waiting for me

At the corner in the blazing heat

It must be summer somewhere

And I haven't even left the house 

 

When Valentine

When the man with no hands

Played the first notes of winter

It was a blizzard of joy 

That followed locked

Away in some cabin

Even Vivaldi applauded

Rushing toward the stage

Let the snow bury us

His flute repeats

Let the lightning do battle

With the livid rainbow 

Nothing can stifle this joy

That carries us away

So far so deep the snow

We fly over

In a few beats 

Pictured Valentine

A narrow piece of wood

Is crawling up the post

Its stops for push-ups

Like a true athlete 

And to feel the sun

On its back basking

So true an acolyte 

Of the light it's become

A little flame with legs

Darting off or standing still

It's not just the flame itself

But our two minds right now

Holding the picture

Of it together amazing

So it never dissolves 

Ever Valentine

And what to do with this soul

We've been working on so long

With its cosmic moods

And hidden intentions 

Just trying to make a living

If I look sideways at my soul

I can see what's moving

In the darkness of its will

A child locked away

After forgiveness

The real fight begins

Love carries a sword

So it won't ever have to use it

As if beauty was enough 

We Are All Birds Valentine

You send me a picture

Of a three month old baby

Laying on its stomach on the floor

In the bird position

Head up wings tucked back

As if about to take off or land

That bird now caught

In the shape of a baby

As if to say Look

I made it through meteors

It was a long migration

I am yet another word spoken

In the conversation of gods

Who sing in unison I am 

And Not To Be Valentine

What to do with these bodies

We've been given chosen

These sinews and bones

These searching eyes 

What do they represent

And how to meet the bodies

Our prayers just keep

Bringing back every day

All the labor that goes into it

To come to more than nothing

To slowly be perfected

Its daily sacred task

And not to be afraid 

This Now You Speak Of Valentine

Can you really believe

It's only a few inches

Of kindness we've come

After all these centuries 

After all the stories

We've told one another

That the old must die

So the new can be born

Our souls recycling

Can you really believe

There is only becoming

More and more becoming

Don't you believe

We are also divine 

Right Now Valentine

What's happening right now

That's important in the world

Is a single gold flower

Catching the sun

All around it purple shadows

The darkness finally asleep

I just noticed its fiery

Loneliness as it receives

Its drop of glory

From that endless source

It made me laugh and weep

To see how far it's traveled

To let me be its witness

Adding its bright flame

To all to come 

Unless Valentine

They say if a few

Huddle together thinking

The same thought

Freely as one soul

They make an opening

For a higher being

To step through

Escaping heaven

Bypassing death

Aren't the gods

Like the dead

Always waiting

To be welcomed in

Unless we forget

Where we are from 

On Lawrence's 'Pentecostal' and the Source of All Poetry, Pentecost, 2026 Valentine

Between the domestic

And the cosmic

We can see

The lines are blurred 

Like buildings in a puddle

And yet they're married

Equally to the same reality

Of time and space they take

The peonies I bought

All dropped their petals

At the same time this morning

Covering the table

What can you make of that 

Trying Valentine

I was trying to address

My life so far

Since my last confession

The statistician of my soul

Says the numbers aren't looking good

I keep getting a different sum

I've yet to spend

Combing through the columns 

Is it our regrets

That will crawl us back

Something I meant to say

That might have made you laugh

I'm trying to coalesce

What it was that made it

Come down to this caress