From the Heart

From my favorite book for this season Valentines: Poems is this little poem. I think it should be read slowly so that each image sinks deeply.

A Perfect Heart

To make a perfect heart you take a sheet
of red construction paper of the type
that's rough as a cat's tongue, fold it once,
and crease it really hard, so it feels
as if your thumb might light up like a match,

then choose your scissors from the box. I like
those safety scissors with the sticky blades
and the rubber grips that pinch a little skin
as you snip along. They make you careful,
just as you should be, cutting out a heart

for someone you love. Don't worry that your curve
won't make a valentine; it will. Rely
on chewing on your lip and symmetry
to guide your hand along with special art.
And there it is at last: a heart, a heart!

by Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004-2006


I love this season of the heart. I'll tell more about Kooser in the next day or two. I'm enjoying this season and plan to for the next 10 or so days.

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