Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Valentine's Day

For Daniel and Nadine


I know this place

for Chinese

zither music

just the right volume

the perfect menu

for us, Dim sum 

General Tao and

coconut peanut chicken

gluten-free

easy on the soya sauce

and no MSG

we skip dessert

run home

light a candle

and make love

no laws broken

no movie

required.

5 comments:

Ken Stollon said...

No laws broken? Wasn't sure what you meant by that ... unless I missed the whole point, as I am apt to do.

B. Glen Rotchin said...

Hi Kelp, well, what did you think the point was?

Ken Stollon said...

No laws broken ... because you're married (i.e., it's not adultery, not an "affair")?

No laws broken ... because you can get away with a cheap date?

No laws broken ... because you haven't broken with tradition (i.e., Valentine's Day).

B. Glen Rotchin said...

Hi Kelp,

Those sound like good options. Actually I wrote the poem after speaking with my friend Daniel and asked him what he did with his partner Nadine on Valentine's Day. He described going to their favorite Chinese restaurant. Daniel is in the film business. Nadine is a lawyer. Hence the ending. Sounded good to me. As I thought more about it, we have this romantic notion of love from the movies. It's often a swashbuckling tale about a fight, a hero, a rebel who goes to extraordinary lengths, which often includes law breaking to win the woman he loves etc. that sort of thing. I was struck by how love can be expressed in a much simpler more routine way, and maybe that's the truer expression. Something extraordinary (love) expressed in a quotidian way, which in my mind is the secret to an enduring love, with appreciation and gratitude.

Ken Stollon said...

Perhaps then it's not as much about law-breaking as it is about the breaking of conventions, of attempting to express love in a simpler, less cliched fashion. I dig. I whole-heartedly agree with this sentiment ... "Something extraordinary (love) expressed in a quotidian way, which in my mind is the secret to an enduring love, with appreciation and gratitude."