TheBanyanTree: just some bloomin' luv

[Julie Anna Teague]

I'm a big fan of Valentine's Day, significant other or no significant other (it
happens that I have one this year, by the skin of our long, tempestuous
relationship's teeth).  I know the day has turned into a commercialized mess,
but that shouldn't detour those of us who mean it from the heart.  "All we need
is love" is my personal motto--I have it on a tshirt and tshirts don't lie
(although they are sometimes tinged with irony).  And so I'm simply thrilled to
have a day set aside on which it doesn't seem quite so odd that I should
distribute pink Gerbera daisies to everyone I meet, which was my method of
choice for spreading the love this morning.  My dad calls me his "flower child"
(general attitude, a penchant for wearing bellbottoms, plus that one time at a
family gathering when I sat in the grass and taught the younger generation how
to make clover chains and tie them in their hair) and I have to admit that I am
just naively optimistic enough to think handing a flower to someone will make
them happier and more full of love for all mankind.  Call me crazy.  Alas and
alack, for you my dear friends, I can't hand out daisies.  Perhaps fortunately
for you, I don't even know where most of you live.   So I searched for something
that has the cheery good intentions and playful nature of a pink gerbera daisy,
but flatter and easier to send through email.  So here you are, my Valentines--a
pome.

Be mine, 
Julie


Valentine

Chipmunks jump, and
Greensnakes slither.
Rather burst than
Not be with her.

Bluebirds fight, but
Bears are stronger.
We've got fifty
Years or longer.

Hoptoads hop, but
Hogs are fatter.
Nothing else but
Us can matter.
        -Donald Hall