As a child, I read “Love, Stargirl” by Jerry Spinelli and connected right away with Stargirl. I loved her fearlessness to be herself, her wonder for the world, and her abounding kindness. In the story, Stargirl leaves behind orange halves throughout the town as a treat for birds and other animals. These oranges come to mark her path. If someone in town saw an orange half on top of a fence, they knew Stargirl had been there.
I write Kimber Was Here to have a record of how I make sense of the world. These essays are my oranges.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for following along.
February = break-up season.
Because February is known as the season of love, this may be shocking, but it’s true. February is brutal in the world of romantic love. In my personal past experience, experiences of friends, and my high school students’ relationships that I watch from afar (haha), February might not be as lovey-dovey as it is cracked up to be. According to this random Medium article I found that was probably written by AI and this silly article from 2015, my suspicions may be correct: people are more likely to break up in February than any other month.
February is quirky, and 2024’s February, being a leap year, is even more so. What kind of month has a random “r” in the middle of the name and only 28-29 days?!
In February, the sun starts to shine again and illuminates our lives. We come out from our hibernation caves, squint our eyes in the new light, and… do we like what we see? While January is all about the future and beyond, February is the time for a re-evaluation of the present day. We are moving on from our wishing, hopeful antics of what the future may hold; we are taking a hard look at the here and now.
These kinds of thoughts are what inspired my February poem. If you missed January’s, take a look here! At first glance, February looks all warm and pink and fuzzy, but she brings some hard questions and some harder answers. And we love her for it!
February Her warmth is subtle at first, a gasp of delight a stroke of light Thawing out our frozen, jaded selves our frozen beliefs frozen relationships We wiggle our toes and fingers again In awe that we are still alive we are still alive! Fuscias and reds lead us along in a flurry of fluff and freckled noses, roses tied together in pretty pink bows Oh, February, You devil. Your thawing re-evaluations Decisions and incisions frills cut from the edges Compliments and comparisons tossed out like candy like paper hearts that rip so easily
Thanks for reading!
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I marvel at your gift for comparison and the images which are always thought-provoking! I read your poems many times over and am still stuck for an adequate response! Love you, bless you! ♥
Love your poetry so much ❤️