A Couple of Poems for February

carrying each other

We had a snow emergency
The wind was blowing
The drifts were high
The temps were low
I was driving to work
Cursing the winter
In February
In Minnesota
Stopped at a light
Hoping my windshield would stay clear
And I saw a girl, maybe 10 or 12
Carrying another child, maybe 2 or 3
Through the snow
Hanging on
To each other



Beautiful Red Heart Shaped Boxes

When I was little I didn’t know if we were poor or not
There we were in the middle of middle class
A big house but lots of kids
Hand me down clothes
Not like the dentist and their family in the new rambler
Around the corner, his daughter, my age, always in new clothes
Who had the white bedroom set, complete with full length mirror

But now I know, we were not poor
This is how I know
on Valentines day my dad would always remember
every year
He would give my mom the most beautiful box of candy
I know now, not the cheapest one
Not just a plain box
But a beautiful red heart shaped box
some years velvety
some years with a huge bow
some years sparkly red with fake roses on top

He was a gentleman and a generous man
In spite of buying too much beer for himself
and my mom’s grumbling about it
He was always elegant
With penmanship that looked like art
I have never found someone to love me like my dad loved my mom
We were not poor