Life Sucks

This Valentine's Day ...

One of my best friends was diagnosed with Stage 3 Mantle Cell Lymphoma ...

A co-worker's wife died of melanoma ...

and I realized the heavy responsibility of the word "friend."

A Poem for 2/14/2007

This is one of my favorite poems ...

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Silent Sounds of Winter

I intensely dislike winter--the gloom of it, the cold grip it brings upon our days. But alas, in order to make peace with it, I've contemplated some things I could--and do--like about this frigid season ...

The R & R that cold, dark days bring offering time to retreat from the world, to repair, restore, and rest the spirit.

The appreciation of another's touch, the delicious feel of another warm body against cool sheets ... spooning close, heat against each other ... one alone + one alone = two together.

The rich taste of a well-made hot chocolate--made with whole milk, a trickle of peppermint, and a fat dollop of whipped cream to top it off. Instant water-made concoctions should be banned.

The warm feeling of soup as it makes its way from mouth to stomach ... nourishing every chilled cell.

Blankets scented with lavender heaped heavily and scrunched around the neck and nose so that breath will warm beneath.

And the sound of wind whipping its stinging tails of frost against the window glass... of snow shovels scraping against concrete, and then ... the silent sounds of snow ... muffled, blanketing ...a world in white.