a valentine's day poem

by jennifer

i'll continue the stories a little later this week, but i thought i'd post something different today.

i wrote it about someone who haunted me for a while. someone who recently got married.

***
los muertos se ríen

not skeletal and gleeful as Posada envisioned
but rather plain of spirit and flesh, attending
to the business of every day:

shopping for soy milk and eggs
saying nightly prayers with children
paying bills and dreading
the morning commute.

they are specters occupying
their lives and watching yours:
chainsmoking outside your preferred coffeeshop
watching you dance your favorite song
browsing periodicals in your neighborhood

invisible but to those who squint to see hope
haunting as always only open hearts.

***
happy valentine's day! hope you are able to celebrate it with people you love--romantic partners or other loved ones.