POEM: My valentine

If a rose is how I express my love,

Then let me plant a garden for thee,

For a mere bouquet will wither away,

But with time I can cultivate a garden into a true beauty,

I will enrich the soil of your opulent mind,

With the assurance that I will be by your side,

I will plant the seeds of care and understanding in your heart,

That you may know my love for you is deep as it is wide,

I will trim all the undesired thorns of the past,

Those new and healthier branches of memory can grow,

I will grow this garden out in the openness of your soul,

Where your light of love gleams bright that it may glow,

Dearly beloved my love for you I shall express,

But a mere rose I cannot in good faith give thee,

For my love for you is but an ever vast garden,

With the blooms of adoration and care daily blossoming,

Know my love for thee is but a garden,

To which I shall continue with time to cultivate into wonder,

Know I shall care for it and maintain it,

This love of mine a gift for you my precious treasure.

SASHA FISHER

Coeur d’Alene