Love in Times of War

That Eddie…
He should have been a comedian.
He yuck, yuck, yuckity-yuckity-yucked
his way out of my life.
I guess the joke was on me!

And Juan?
He bought his Valentine’s cards by the dozen
and strung us along like piñatas;
that is, until we showed up en masse at his house.
His wife answered the door.
“Honey, we’re home!”

Now, Aldo, the chef.
That maybe could have been something…
His manicotti was divine,
but his temper was pure Mussolini!
Klickity-klackity, klickity-klack!
I ran down the cobbled streets of Rome –
in stilettos, of course…

Larry, Jason, Mason, the preacher’s son!
Oh Lord, where is my dignity?

I can count on both hands
when I hung on too long, too strong.
Now, I can’t even remember their last words,
the last times we…you know…

Never truly right, truly wrong.
It just “was”.
Break up, make up, break up again…
for good, or maybe not.

Connect, disconnect.
Love, be unloved.
Agree to disagree.
Oh, love was such a mystery…until…
Amanda Jones.
We met at a peace rally – my first one.
She was running around
like the place was on fire.
And me?
Well, I was a deer in the headlights.
She wrote my name on the roster,
introduced herself, handed me a sign.
I stood there, lost.

“Come with me”, she said.
I could barely keep up!
We reached the intersection.
Trash cans were on fire!

I raised my sign high like the others,
chanting “Peace Over Fear!”,
until my voice was gone.

A cherry bomb landed on my backpack!
She ripped it off me like lightening – CRACK!

There it was smoldering on the ground.
“You alright?”, she said,
as if I’d broken a nail.
I played it cool.

Her eyes, wide…
Electric.

I replayed the incident all the way home,
over and over again…
Six days, seven hours.
Six days, seven hours and forty-five minutes later,
Amanda Jones called.

“War could break out at any time!
Join me at the rally tonight…
…and maybe get a bite after?”

Her voice, velvet…
Electric.

I hesitated.
I knew.

Unfamiliar, but familiar.
What would my family think?
What about my friends?
People at work peeking ‘round their cubicles.
Whispers, gossip, eyes…following me everywhere.
“Did you hear about Suzanne?”

The intersection of my life.
The world was on fire!

“Yes”, I said, “Yes”.
“Yes”, I said, “Yes”!
“How about dinner at my house?”

Hearts, flowers, sugar kisses
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