the obvious thoughtful gift

the truly romantic &
the truly caring
do not come forth to announce themselves
when capitalist commercial society deems it so,
no, they do not fold when the extreme pressure
to do as everyone else would have them do
comes down on their backs full force,
succumbing to making one day out of the year
seem as if it was more important than all the rest
where the love of one’s life is concerned.

leave the 14th of feb. to those who become charitable &
full of glee & harmony but once a year as well,
sometime around that irrelevant date said to be celebrating the
birthday of a certain fictional character
when the snow is supposed to already be here &
irving berlin steps out to sing us all background music
so that grandma can whip up the batch of cookies.

the obvious thoughtful gift is the one that comes on the
rainy day in march,
when everything is going wrong in life &
nothing different is expected from the day as a whole---
these are the times when a gift or
even just special attention from a loved one can go so far
as to blot out that big wannabe sun
that calls itself valentine’s day.