A Day for Love

This is the day for love, the day not to think
of wars, to tell violence: ‘we have had enough,
stand in the corner on one foot’, give poverty
a loaf of bread so that it can snooze, warn oppression
to be careful: ‘An oppressor is on the way.’
This is the day to remember
our first kiss, the first whisper,
the smell of your hands in the lavender garden,
the youthful rain, lush behind you and your oblivion
as you drenched yourself in the colour of my eyes.
We have this day for gratitude
so that I can thank you, thank God that you
are mine. Thanks for all the mornings when we
enclose our daughter like closed brackets
and I want to cry.
Please don’t steal the day from us. Don’t
tell us about the girl who was murdered in her sleep.
Don’t show images of the foetus, shot dead inside
her mother. Don’t tell us about the stupidity of leaders,
the folly of politicians, the brutality of humans.
We want to hold on to this moment today,
to think about love’s voice, colour and taste.
Please leave this day to us. And don’t worry,
tomorrow we will roll up our sleeves once again,
we will listen out. We will be here
to write another letter against oppression,
to sign another petition against injustice.
But today, let us be, to consider our love.