Searching my computer for Valentine/DÃa del Amor y la Amistad poems, I came across this – from so many years ago, I’d forgotten it and the poetry reading that inspired it.
Valentine Reading, Calaveras Hotel
We sit in rows of worn red velvet.
She’s pale but almost blushes, fusses with her hat –
bowler with a rosebud. She’s dressed up
1920's style, chemise and boa for this old Gold-Rush
hall, this poetry reading to commemorate Love.
She came with no partner but a poem.
She’s shy about her hat – chemo; she’s in remission.
I don’t know her, any more than the ghosts
of this historic place. With a half-smile she prefaces
her verse about Love – says this is really new,
something we may not have had the luck of finding,
yet. Whom might she love? and who might love
her? Her self, her life. Her voice
comes sweet and stronger with each line.
~ Taylor Graham
first appeared on Poems Niederngasse