Hallmark Holidaze

Love Spell or Devil's Tale

Is it Valentine’s Day or emotional blackmail?
Is it a Love Spell or a Devil’s Tale?

Is it a day to remember the saints?
Is it a day to put on your war-paint?

Is it a day for desires to be unfurled?
Is it a day that taints the mind of young girls?

Is it a day where birds find their mate?
Is it a day where lonely hearts break?

Is it a day where spells are bound?
Is it a day where evil wears the crown?

Is it a day where love letters are sent?
Is it a day that drives money to be spent?

is it a day where treasures are revealed?
Is it a day where pain is concealed?

Is it a day to capture sweet moments?
Is it a day to spend in atonement?

Is it a day where love can be found?
Is it a day where horrors abound?

Is it a day where romance is made?
Is it just another Hallmark Holiday?

Is it a day where your heart is overthrown?
Is a day that you always spend alone?

Is it a day where eros comes to town?
Is it a day where emptiness drowns?

Is it a day where love conquers all?
Is it a day where everything falls?

Is it a day where hearts are shackled in chains?
Is it a day where true love reigns?

Is it a day where cupid’s arrow strikes?
Is it a day punctured by love’s bite?

Is it a day where truth is concealed?
Is it a day where all is revealed?

Is it a day where heart-sleeves are rolled down?
Is it a day when jealousy strikes out on rebound?

Is it a day to remember what is lost?
Is it a day that comes with a cost?

Is it a day restrained to no end?
Is it a day held in suspense?

Is it a day that smells like flowering roses?
Is it a day where the blooms are closing?

Is it a day to profess what’s inside?
Is it a day to hold back and hide?

Is it a day any different than tomorrow?
Is it a day where time is borrowed?

I took this photo on a wintery day in Paris, I have no idea who this man is. I don’t really believe the sentiment on his coat, because love alone is not always enough, but in a moment of contrast where innocence was shown over a backdrop of grey skies against a cold pale white landscape, I couldn’t help but feel moved by this scene…. how even the coldest days can be warmed up by something completely unobservable, only felt…. that thing called love…that thing that moves you toward action that is observable, scenes that bring about awe where the tangible and intangible bridges become the place where souls meet…or pass each other by, a stranger captured through a lens, hope on display. Even on cold wintery days where there are no red flowers blooming, an enthralled crimson heart can be moved into more feverishly beating, the pain of possibility evoked, worries choked, and something else entirely provoked. To embrace love is to allow in the fullness of all emotions, to let the inevitability of loss and the pain that comes with it not be a barrier to loving…to giving love…and it’s ok to celebrate both the blindness and beauty that love brings.

Valentine’s Day and any day are what you make it…let the propaganda puppeteers control it in rebellion or break their spells by embracing the opportunity it gives to find connection…. …. bitterness or redirection…consumption or creative junction …marketing injection or a reason for affection…consumption’s cupid or grounded and rooted…. consent or content.

May the Hallmark Holiday spells be broken
And the love inside your heart be opened

Most of all…find the courage to love for it is not for the faint of heart, it is for the bravest of souls.

With Love I give,

Angela Morris
The Irrational Sage