How Do I Find Thee, Valentine?

By addressing every mess with affection.

Photo courtesy of the author.

How do I find thee, Valentine?

Let me count the ways:

by chocolate trails from distant shelves

that lead to a once white chair;

from tissue turds that muffled sneezes

now littering a bedside;

via drops of chowder sprayed from lusty slurps

across a shiny maple table;

by cookie crumbs that fly beyond

the borders of place mats;

from the gray spray of nose hair trims

circling a clogging drain;

from wads of floss that land just short

of most disposal sites;

by the smear of color staining your cheek

I kissed on just now—

By schmutz and smear,

spill, spritz, slobber,

sprinkle, spew, slather,

spit, sperm, stain,

\drip, drop, dribble, drool.

The residues of you on me and me on you.

Cleaning up after is a small price to pay

for our effusive love…

Photo courtesy of the author.