Sally Ashton

LET’S GET RID OF VALENTINE’S DAY AND REPLACE IT WITH SECOND HALLOWEEN

You know an idea’s hot

when it has 126,876

Facebook likes before you’ve

even seen it and it’s only

mid-January. Already thousands

are dreading the Day

in spite of those yummy

conversation hearts and gummy

bears that spill from aisle-caps in every

store making their appearance

in my CVS December 26th

along with hearts pierced by arrows

which is possibly one of the reasons

many of us would rather

bring back the Halloween displays

witches spiders and monsters

the bloody fingers and mummies

ax murderers and vampires,

zombies and ghosts, even

the French maids or sexy costumes

for men which unfortunately

are more ludicrous than sexy

my favorite however being the Golden

Dong—Google it—which seems

to bring us somewhat back around

to the problem with Valentine’s Day

and why many of us would prefer

to apply fake scars and warts rather

than face the sickly array of red satin

lace and roses, the profit-driven

reminder to get it on. What’s the point

of a holiday that excludes nearly

half of us, those who for whatever

reason identified as “single”

on the last county census though many

choose “single” vs the only other choice,

“married,” so who knows

what really goes on

behind closed doors but Halloween

is all about opening doors and giving

away something sweet to whoever

is standing there no matter what

they look like or who they are—perfect

strangers—and all anyone has to do

is hold out a bag and ask

—from Poets Respond

February 13, 2018

__________

Sally Ashton: “This is a poem in response to Valentine’s Day via a random Facebook post that appeared in my newsfeed. The poem expresses what seems to be a widespread reaction to an awkward, often-dreaded holiday that loudly separates the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots.’ Valentine’s Day not only marginalizes millions of people, it serves to ostracize or even break the hearts of people who, for whatever reason, are partner-less. Cupid’s cruel and heartless slings and arrows. I’ve been part of an annual Valentine’s reading for nine years and play the role of the anti-Valentine for this same reason.” (web)