SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY QUESTION

SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY QUESTION

I have an astounding dream to report.
It has me running in the semi-darkness
With a key in my hand. It's a cylindrical key,
And has a single, protruding notch at its end,
The kind of key used to wind an antique clock.

Next to the wall at the end of my run stands
a giant, cartoon heart,
Painted, yet color so natural, it rivals
the red of a Red Delicious apple.

On the right at the top of this wondrous heart
A gold metal strike plate sets up over against
an aperture, the channel,
Which leads to the lock that might open your heart.

Have I the key? Or do I dream only to wake
To nightmare day of awful longing and ache?

Have I lost my mind? Has logic betrayed me?
Do I confuse dream wish with reality?

Darling, answer me soon! Does deep desire
Verge on truth? Will anxiety cease,
And promise of new, peaceful kingdom be
fulfilled, here, in this query today?

Now I stand before you, You, my Higher Power,
And the congregates sense the blasphemy; they
Whisper calumnies. They say
that I am my father’s son,
He is the boy from the hardware store!
Who bestows on him authority
to tell midnight imaginings?

And me, their belligerence does not concern me,
Not a whit, though they rise up
and ready to condemn me.
I pray ... I might have definite answer,
That I am prophet in this house,
That I may begin this, my public ministry, positive,
Carry hope for life anew,
And have news extraordinary for all to hear.

Down a space eclipsed in semi-darkness, I run
I have a key in my hand. It's cylindrical,
A single, protruding notch at its end,
The kind used to wind an antique clock.

Darling, please, your answer!
Have I the key to open your heart,
Or do I dream the impossible dream?