There’s a deep, bitter chill, and for me there’s a thrill
In hearing the battery start.
The car engine purrs, the heater fan whirs
And thaws out my middle-aged heart.

I’m not blaming Cupid for being so stupid
To flash his wee bum in this cold.

But give me a break, for Valentine’s sake,
That mushy stuff’s really grown old.

There once was a time when chocolates & rhyme
Could launch me to wild palpitations.
You won me forever because of your clever,
Alluringly penned salutations.

Your hands, your eyes, those lips, our sighs –
“Oh, yes!” we eternally vowed.
Then after a season of love-clouded reason
Reality had us both cowed.

There’s nothing like kids to put passion on skids
And changes in jobs, homes and schools.
With each bill we pay we add wrinkles and gray.
What happened to those love-struck fools?

The lemons life gave, made us tough, made us brave.
We clung to each other and screamed.
We mixed in some grit & some faith & some spit,
And worked hard together and dreamed.

How do arrows and fluff hold up to the tough
Love that watches, waits, grieves?
Our joys and our woes don’t need any bows.
This kind of love never leaves.

So this morning at 8 when the car started great
Because you set trickle-charged powers,
I felt all aglow with our love that I know
Has a language more lasting than flowers.

(all that being said, you know my true feelings about chocolate and flowers.)