In honor of Valentine's Day

For Levent

I hang in the balance of wonder,
like pencils, newly sharpened,
snow, newly fallen
or cloth napkins, newly folded and resting
dutifully on gold rimed plates

Don't let me forget what this is like,
this waiting.
For this is the smoothest form of human nature,
the stillness between the heart's beats,
when there is no difference between hope and love.

And when the scale has fully tipped
and all the new manifests itself into alarm clocks,
laundry that needs to be switched,
coffee cups that need to be rinsed,
promise you will always remember me.

Tenderness is often forgotten
or stored away in closets
between old Christmas lights and extra blankets,
saved for a special holiday.
Every day is the same. The traffic, the sun,
the cat purring at the door.

But promise me this -
Yes.
You'll remember those yellow no. 2s with freshly pink erasers,
those first snowflakes,
and the white linen all in a pile,

all that was yet to be.

-AY 1/13/2015