Be My Valentine

I long to embrace your quivering self,

penetrate your no-yes-no-no wall of granite

with a will of tensile steel, butterfly across

your fluming moat over swirling mists

where crocodiles abound with jagged teeth.

I’d power-wash away your tears, hold you

safely in arms that radiate endearing heat.

Your watchtower guards can riddle

me with dum-dum bullets but I will

sawzall through; thunderbolts cannot stop me

from flinging myself over like a flying trapeze

artist or tunneling under, surprising you

like a Punxsutawney marmot on

Gobbler’s Knob on Groundhog Day.

I long for you who are so near yet far away

as you cling to bon triste secret memories.

I dream of your inviting fragrance and

welcoming smile, certain you will yield to the rapture

of my embrace, allowing me to assuage your fears

with reassuring words, muscles of stone and touches

delicate as the petals of a Jacaranda hot pink rose.

We’ll be bound together as double helix united souls.

Milton P. Ehrlich 199 Christie St. Leonia, N.J. 07605