For No Particular Reason.

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved

The glittering ball drops,

As we welcome January with open arms,

My television set booms with life as the confetti rains,

I never knew I loved the first midnight of the year.

As we’re blanketed in the crisp air,

I don a rainbow sweater and a smile,

Chilly, cold, but never quite freezing,

I didn’t know I could love these Florida winters.

Cupid is the symbol for a candy-filled carnival,

My eyes roll at the pink hearts and teddy bears in the stores,

The greatest romance is told through entwined hands under a passionate kiss,

I never knew I loved to watch people fall in love.

March is a parade of clovers and a pinch of Irish luck,

A burgeoning bouquet of spring arrives at my doorstep,

A picnic in the park or a Sunday morning bicycle ride,

I am reminded of how much I love the birth of new life.

Rainy days are an excuse for board games,

And sleeping in past noon,

April finds me hunting for an Easter basket,

I always knew I loved the golden egg but the real gold is time with family.

The month of my birth is a 31-day celebration,

Adorned with yellow cards, homemade cookies, and Skittles,

Getting older is not a tragedy when you have a sense of adventure,

May I always remember how much I love being young and alive.

June shines as I dip my feet in the ocean,

Load up the car with my favorite people and a screaming stereo,

I’ll sip my sweet tea at the beach and dance with the waves,

But I never knew I loved the taste of sand in my bologna sandwich.

July’s sunshine is overwhelming at times,

I’ll pack a good book just for the shade,

Spending a lazy summer day with Faulkner or Fitzgerald,

I didn’t know I loved to traverse the world of classic literature.

Every summer brings a new destination for my father and me,

Baseball stadiums across the land, every night a new “home team,”

Peanuts and cracker jacks are overrated; I’ve had enough to claim,

I didn’t know I could only love cotton candy while seated in the bleachers.

August is the test I neglected to study for,

I cringe as school looms in the distance,

My woes consoled by crisp notebooks and sharp pencils,

I never knew I loved picking out my outfit for the first day.

It’s the start of football season and the end of wearing white,

I wave goodbye to the summer freedom,

Watch me fall headfirst into autumn,

I didn’t know how much I loved the slight chill in the September air.

My Jack-O-Lantern will glow eerily,

As spooky specters play under an October full moon,

Never too old for a creative costume,

Strange, how I love to be someone else for just one night.

I’m always the first one awake for the Thanksgiving Day parade,

Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and turkey are on the menu,

Staples of a November holiday celebrated by millions of families in unison,

I never knew how much I loved time-traveling via home videos.

Sleigh bells jingle in December, hundreds of miles away from snow,

A white Christmas means the white sands of a Florida beach,

Staying up late to leave cookies out for Santa Claus,

I didn’t know I could still love believing in childhood fantasies.

What is a year, if not an annual assurance of continuity?

A fresh touch of familiarity, putting a new spin on an old tradition,

I never knew all these things I loved, and how they illustrate who I am.

I never knew I could define love by defining my simplest joys.

Inspired by:

“Things I Didn’t Know I Loved” by Nazim Hikmet