The sky is perfectly pink
On Valentine’s Day
And the tiny flakes
Fly on the wind
In every direction but down
They buzz and swarm the window
Like little white bees
White hearts aflutter
With urgent messages
And I think of you
This was your favorite day
I remember
How you’d gather us at the piano
To sing Winter Goodbye
I always felt sorry for winter
Like she was a less favorite child
I remember
I was always alto
Even though I knew I could reach
Those higher notes
They were my sister’s
She was blond and beautiful
I was brunette
Which is just a kind word for brown
I remember
As a child
I was always dressed in red
Roses are red
But there were times I would have liked
To have been the violet
I remember
A song you sang at bedtime
About a lover who adored brown eyes
And could never love blue eyes again
My sister’s eyes were blue
And I cried sad and happy
All twisted together
My sister was born on a Wednesday
And full of woe
That troubled my journey for years
Being born on a Thursday
I carried that woe in a rucksack
Until one day I told her
And she laughed with her blue eyes
And with foolish relief
I put that burden down
Flakes of snow
That buzz like little bees against my memory
I hear your urgent Valentines
It was always and ever
Love
And now I sing your favorite verse to you
In my best alto voice
Father, I sing your favorite Valentine
And together
We remember
It was always and ever
Love




Sara Mathews    February 2019