“For a Sweet Girl Greta on Valentine’s Day”
The card would begin.
Not a card, really
Just
Paper from your Underwood/folded in half—
On the front, amongst the hearts,
A colored-pencil drawing of a good girl
Who never looked like me to me
But maybe did to you?
Inside, a silly poem or parody
Tribute to
Whatever Broadway show I played and played
On the turntable in your den
Dancing around exams you diligently graded
Or books you never finished writing
And the science fiction paperbacks
With big-breasted-thick-thighed women in peril
On the wilted covers,
Bursting against various restraints.
The old wooden carving of Don Quixote gamboled to my step
Precariously perched as it was on the homemade bookcase
Shaky
Like your hands
Before your first splash of bourbon.
I miss you most on this day
Always.
Although…
For decades,
As I meticulously gathered evidence of your indifference,
I knew not why.
But now,
I’ve tasted your depression
And found the faded cards
Stashed away in hardcovers
I thought I’d never open again.
Ah, I see
You did love me
And I
you.
—
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