valentine

the first time

you told me

you love me

we were walking

on a street in

park place

on our way downtown

to frisch's for a

big boy and onion rings

young

19 maybe 20

just kids in college

both trembling

with new passions

on the edge of

commitment

fears of rejection

fears of acceptance

wrapped around us

like heavy yet warm

hand knitted shawls

from grandmothers' needles

we walked on

toward the bridge

that would take us

beyond life

as we had known it

to strange new worlds

wrapped in each other’s arms

you turned slightly to me

holding my hand

still not making contact

with your eyes

and said

ich liebe dich

speaking german

you learned at

niagara falls high

perhaps hoping in part

i would not understand

but dagmar had shared

dark rye bread and cheese

with me during lunch at

huntsville high and I had

a telefunken 33 rpm

with a rousing rendition of

the beer barrel polka

rosamunde a barrel of fun

not lost in translation

i knew in a heartbeat

you love me

early years in

pennsylvania dutch land

hex signs shoo fly pie

spaetzle german potato salad

bundle of joy

bird in hand

ich liebe dich

almost a life time later

cherished friends

the royal princess

the kiel canal

beautiful deutschland

german people

waving welcome to strangers

the band plays on

rosamunde having a barrel of fun

number one on the hit parade

fairy tale come true

ich liebe dich

prophetic language

hoped dreamed

understood received

committed lived

ich liebe dich auch

immer

christie for stan

happy valentine's day, 2011