Little Paper Poppies

If You Feel Sorry

If you feel sorry for yourself
this Valentine's Day, think of
the dozens of little paper poppies
left in the box when the last
of the candy is gone, how they
must feel, dried out and brown
in their sad old heart-shaped box,
without so much as a single finger
to scrabble around in their
crinkled petals, not even
one pimpled nose to root and snort
through their delicate pot pourri.
So before you make too much
of being neglected, I want you
to think how they feel.

by Ted Kooser, from Valentines: Poems
former U.S. poet Laureate
winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry


Our little paper Valentines will be dropped in the mail tomorrow so that they will be found in our grandchildren's mailbox on Monday. It's our way of helping remove the neglect of not being remembered. I think everyone ought to get a little Valentine (in the mail or in person) on the 14th. What a fun day.

Well, the entire faculty from all three colleges in the district met this morning. It was an attempt to re-group, hear the chancellor's update, and work in smaller groups of faculty who teach the same subject, all in preparation for the spring semester beginning Monday. When noon arrived, I was more than ready to be done with meetings. When I got to the car, it was "cooking." I hopped in and turned on the AC and drove the 16 miles toward home. Our high today was 76 degrees. It's going to be a summer weekend in winter!

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol