Valentine's Starlight Haiku

those three words uttered ...

our bodies nestle, listening

to Valentine's starlight

NeverEnding Story, February 14 2025

FYI: For more "love" poems, see  Special Feature: Selected Poems for Valentine's Day

Added: 

my affair ends

with a tired face emoji

she used to say

the power of love begins

with the silence of words

Valentine's Day and Night

a teen couple 

share one chocolate heart ...

me and my shadow

dim TV light

my dog licks chocolate crumbs

I left behind

NeverEnding Story, February 14 2024

Added: a tanka sequel

I share 

one chococlate heart

and Valentine poems

with my post-divorce date ...

her scent on my fingers

Added: This Brave New World, CXLII

this year 45 days old

in the breezy sunshine

49th mass shooting 

FYI: Most of the mass shootings don't make the news in the US (CBC News, Feb. 14)

And The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 15: Gunfire at Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration kills 1 and wounds nearly two dozen, including children: 

“Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

Cow Hug Day Tanka

written in response to CNN News, Feb. 12: "India tried to rebrand Valentine’s Day as ‘Cow Hug Day.’ Here’s how it backfired"

Cow Hug Day

instead of Valentine's Day

under the billboard

a sari-clad woman

holds a man's hand tight, tighter

NeverEnding Story, February 12 2023

Valentine's Night Out Haiku

Valentine's night out

with eyes closed, I am open

to a stranger's touch

NeverEnding Story, February 14, 2022

Valentine Date Haiku

Valentine date

she licks a crumb of chocolate

off my lips 

NeverEnding Story, February 14 2021

Middle-Aged Face Senryu

this middle-aged face
in a lingerie store window
Valentine's night

Failed Haiku, 5:50,  February 2020

Glare of Headlights Haiku

Valentine rain ...
in the glare of headlights
a couple kissing

German Translation

Valentinsregen ...
im grellen Scheinwerferlicht
küßt sich ein Paar 

Chrysanthemum, 25, 2019

Valentine's Night Haiku

drifts of snow
on Valentine's night
a stray and me

NeverEnding Story, February 14, 2019

Valentine's Day Gift Senryu

Valentine's Day gift:
my wife pares my love poem
down to a few words

Failed Haiku, 3:36, 2018

Valentine's Day Haiku

Valentine's Day
my wine glass full
of moonlight

NeverEnding Story, February 14, 2018

White Paper Swans Tanka

coming home
from the overtime shift
this Valentine's night
on my single bed
two white paper swans

Atlas Poetica, 29, 2017

Wild Strawberries Haiku

ruby glow
of wild strawberries ...
Valentine's Day

Kokako, 26, April 2017

Selected Tanka Sequence: The Same Old Story

first sunlight
after Valentine's Day
her heart
beating against mine
in a cheap motel room

her departing words
each star has its own journey
linger with me...
the mouth of darkness swallows
our summer stars and her

in twilight
rustling maple leaves
have a voice
that answers the storm
I murmur, what am I?

returned mail
from my ex-girlfriend
piles up...
flakes of thought drifting
in a world of one color

New Year's cleanup...
finding her wadded-up bra
under the bed
at last I breathe in
the smell of her betrayal

Red Lights, 9:1, January 2013

Stray Dog Senryu

a stray dog and I
eye one another
Valentine's night

Failed Haiku, 2:19, July 2017

Sex Worker Haiku

a sex worker
in the barred-blue streetlight
Valentine's night

NeverEnding Story,  February 14, 2017

Neighbor's Wife Senryu

Valentine's Day alone
the neighbor's wife runs naked
through my mind

Failed Haiku, 1:9, September 2016

Sexting Senryu

Valentine's night
I sext with my wife
for the first time

Failed Haiku, 1:3, March 2016

Condom Senryu

his long stare
at the condom shelves
Valentine's Day

Failed Haiku, 1:3, March 2016

Sex Worker Haiku

the texture
of a sex worker's lips
Valentine's night

VerseWrights, September 2015

Valentine's Eve Haiku

Valentine's Eve
I am in the shadow
of a sex worker

PoemHunter, Feb. 14 2014