Sure,
Hate it.
Hate it because it is, indeed,
Stupid,
Pointless,
A capitalistic propaganda scheme,
A strange made up holiday,
Perhaps conceived under
The desire to romanticize romance.
Or
Let it go.
Let go of the hate
For one day —
It’s a heavy sweater we wear
In the middle of winter,
When things are already so cold
And dark
And you are not given any less things to hate,
With the world as it is,
Filled with torture and despair.
But maybe, perhaps,
Just for 24 hours
Take off the weight of it all
And remember what it is to love.
Where it lives in you,
Your heart and soul
But also your fingers, toes —
Holding the hands of the ones you love
Or against your own skin
It’s in your noise,
Your ears,
When you listen to the sound of the city
Rushing past you as you remember to breathe,
When you play your favorite song and decide
To dance around the house. Alone. In love with nothing and everything all at once.
It’s on your tongue and lips,
Both from kisses you give
And in the sensation
Of your mothers cooking
Melting into your mouth
After months, maybe years of being away.
Remember love in the way
Your friend cries into your arms
And you are thankful
To see their humanity
Leaning against yours
Wiping tears from their eyes saying
“It’s okay. This is what it is to be human.”
Celebrate your loneliness today —
If that’s what you choose to call it.
It is not eternal. I promise you.
It is, though, an opportunity
To reflect
Dig deep into those hollow pieces and
Discover new pieces and promises
You never knew were waiting inside.
Go ahead and hate today,
Hate everything it stands for,
Spit at the couples in the streets
Holding hands and laughing,
Scroll mindlessly past posts
That will affirm all the beliefs
You’ve already had about
What’s terrible about today, tomorrow, and the next day.
But I offer this to you
A day to breathe it out
To love yourself
Love your neighbor
Love your parents
Or your pets
A stranger in the street
Or the stranger in the mirror
Find something
And love it today.
And tomorrow
Remember how it felt
And chose again.