Valentines

by G.Parker

Roses are red

Violets are blue

many words are said

in honor of you

some of them are sappy

 some heartfelt lines

be they measured or

rhyming

I always feel

the fool.

There have been many a word written in honor of the day known to the world as Valentine's Day.  It's amazing how people who normally wouldn't write anything, will attempt to write poetry to show their loved ones how much they love them.  It seems to be the time of year that inspires the prose in everyone, everything from sappy to truly romantic.  The greeting card industry alone must employ several hundred people just for cards relating to that day.  Want to get a job doing greeting cards?  Can you come up with ways to say I Love You in five lines or less?

Several years ago I ran across a site that was called The Most Romantic Man in the World.  I thought it was a joke, but it was serious.  Apparently the guy really is known as the most romantic man, and has a web site to help other men shower their women with attention.  (Just a caution - beware it seems to be primarily aimed toward sexual relations now)  One thing that he did point out, and my husband and I agreed with -- you should be romantic all year round so that this one day is not such a big deal.  In fact, he and his wife usually boycott it.

The reason I bring him up is he encourages writing poetry for romance.  I think poetry is highly over rated, but I know there is many out there who write it well.  I just have never been into poetry reading.  I used to write some, but that has since stopped when I lost a great deal of inspiration.  I mean, I have a wonderful marriage and a man who loves me.  Most of my poems were about loneliness or how lost I felt.  See what I mean?

Do you write poems?  What is your inspiration?  Do you write for romance for just to express a feeling?  I have to admit that despite how I feel about it, poetry does seem to best convey emotion that some writing does not.

Many songs are taken from poems, or are poems put to music.  A song is a strong romantic item too.

Last weekend our stake held an adult couples dance themed "A Walk in The Park."  It is something they hold every year, with a different theme each time.  They have a live band from the high school that comes and plays big band songs, there are refreshments, decorations, and it's an all around lovely time.  The Relief Society room, however, is taken over for Karaoke.  Every year it's a big hit, and people crowd in after dancing for an hour or so and spend some time singing before going back out and dancing again.  Unless they're like my adult daughters  (who didn't have dates) and spend the rest of the evening there.

My husband did one of the most romantic things he's done for me -- he sang a song in my honor.  It was sweet, and he embarrassed me a little as he insisted on pulling me up there with him, but it meant more to me than any flowers or chocolates could have done.  That's true romance.

I hope you had a romantic day, if you don't get a lot of it.  And I hope you have romance in your life.  If you don't, at least I hope you have chocolate...and poetry.  Till next week...