Dear Valentine,
As Christmas bleeds into January, seeps toward February,
blood red is everywhere – in the aisles, on windows, in classroom mailboxes.
In the cruor of your beheading, your skull, now adorned
in a coronet of blooms. Hollowed eyes agape.
Hearts healed in your wake. The souls you joined against
Claudius the Cruel’s edict, birthed new blood, formed new bonds.
Arrested and jailed, you made a friend
the jailer’s blind daughter, your only visitor.
You restored her sight, left her a note,
lost your head.
You, the patron saint of beekeepers
sweetening every affection,
soothing the sting of love.
Your gift- a balm for all.
Linda Trott Dickman has been writing poetry since her first sleep-away camp experience when she was ten years old. She is a recently retired school librarian. Linda is the author of Robes, The Air That I Breathe and Road Trip and Road Trip 2- On the Road Again. Linda’s poetry has been published in on-line journals, in Pratik Journal and in several anthologies. She is a former Bard’s Laureate for the Bard’s Initiative and has served on its board. She is the current coordinator of poetry for the Northport Arts Coalition (Northport, NY.) Linda has taught poetry to children for over 35 years and leads a poetry workshop for adults at Samantha’s Li’l Bit O’ Heaven coffee house in East Northport, NY.
Linda Trott Dickman copyright 2021
Published 2/10/22