The Late Romantic

Take your lover out to dinner, my friend,
ignore your back’s protestation
at the meagre support strange chairs supply.
Don’t squint at the fashionable chefs
who fashion food into defiant shapes.
Make peace that you never learned how to dance
for the weddings over generations;
how evenings are a dicey transition —
and have been for years, in all honesty.

Remember: occasional treats will matter
to the one who is left behind.
It is a lonely, unscrupulous world
that proffers roses on Valentine’s Day
at an audacious ten dollars a stem.

Karen Andrews

red rose

Image: shutterbugamar

karen andrews

Karen Andrews is the creator of this website, one of the most established and well-respected parenting blogs in the country. She is also an author, award-winning writer, poet, editor and publisher at Miscellaneous Press. Her latest book is Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity