Tammie Shalit - February 14, 2023
Image by - Sierra Stice
I saw you walking down the hall
with the roses in your palm.
For a second, I believed they would be for me.
You’d greet me with a kiss on the cheek
or a happy smile and a cheesy wink—
but you walked right past, which is how it is supposed to be.
An “almost” or “what if” is the closest we’d ever be.
I wish it were good enough for me.
I wish Valentine’s Day meant nothing to me.
I saw the awkward distance between y’all
with the roses in her grip.
For a second, I hoped the thorns would cut her deep.
She’d bleed red like the color in your cheeks.
Her smile would fade
as she breathed heavily.
But your thorns left no scars on her hands—
only mine.
That is how it is supposed to be.
‘Cause it's just one of those days.
I watch how you’ve learned to stay.
I sit back and accept you’ll never come my way
You taught me pain unresolved on Valentine’s Day.