AFTER ST. VALENTINE’S DAY
--For my darling Laura

My heart, at last, knows love--how free it feels;
How free to seem so trapped yet so at ease!
As if, though once I crawled, I’m now on wheels--
Or once, though bound by chains, now life’s a breeze!
A breeze that wends Love’s maze but won’t grow lost
For trusting dreams while playing out love’s thread;
A breath to give love wings and melt the frost
Of lonely, drawn-out years of aimless dread!
A dread that fouled my thoughts and soiled my mind--
That once had seemed so free and yet was chained!
As if, with both eyes wide, I tumbled, blind--
As though, though clothed in light, but night remained;
Remained, but banished now--bright sunlight reigns:
My heart, at last, knows love and wears love’s chains!

D. S. Biggs
February 15, 2010