My Bittersweet Valentine

Wilted roses crushed into parking lot pebble stones and snow heaps marred the picture of my last Valentine and I held little hope for the “08 version. I have no valentine or a want for one and worry these are the clues to a larger ice cold soul problem. Could the bight lights and warm temperature of the Glitz and Glamor defrost a frozen heart’s hearth? The past year had yet to answer in any positive direction.

Now my day was not all morose sorrow. I did receive a valentine from a passing interest. Hearts line the boarder around a loin. “No “Lion” your the best!” is printed across the top, a pun I did not get until now. On the back, “…Let us Rejoice and Be Glad Today- PSALM 118:24″ is printed across the middle and black handwritten ink proclaims the sender as “Me” and the recipient as “You!”. I suspect the original recipient “You!” was not intended to be me by the unwrapped chocolate heart and missing card.

That’s life, unintended valentine’s and obscure biblical quotes.

“Where are you from?” She says.

I looked up from the lion on the card to find another predator. A cute face sits atop a skinny frame. She looks like she went my high school, received good marks, and was the apple of some father’s eye. Of course, I could be way off. Her history could be abusive and violent. She could come from the sex slave trade. Sold by her father for an oz of crack to a wealthy philanthropist with a odd taste. Sure it’s a stretch but still within the realm of reality.

She sat besides a over stuffed suitcase and I figure all her worldly possessions are inside. She appears another burnt out starlet who couldn’t handle the flame in a town already chock full. Her eyes were filled with crazy and I wonder if her release was voluntary or legal.

“I’m sorry?” I said.

“Where are you from?” She said.

“New Hampshire…” I said to awkward silence. “Where might you be from?”

“Where do you want me to be from?”

“Anchorage” I lust for someone who understands cold.