I think it was Valentines 1993 when Tanya made for me one of the most precious gifts of my life.  Tanya had plenty of faults, way too many, but she was a gifted artist and sculptor.  For valentines she gave me a box of chocolates, a red heart shaped box, and inside;  Among all the empty candy wrappers and only one piece of chocolate was the most perfect sculpted dragon, sleeping with a full tummy.  It was a prize.  I'm not sure when it disappeared or who took it or if Tanya snuck it back, but here in 2001 when I was going to show it to Tina, I couldn't find it.  I looked everywhere, every single place it could be and I couldn't find it.  Even though it was from a previous relationship, and maybe it shouldn't have bothered me, but it really did.  In my sadness for the loss of Sweet Tooth, which is what I named the dragon, I wrote this poem.

Sweet-Tooth

Try as I might, do as I do

It makes me feel awful, I’ve searched through and through

Things that matter and things that shouldn’t

I’ve a dragon in a box with a sweet tooth

From times long ago, places I shouldn’t go

There are memories I value, I’ll just not let go

People change and we all grow wiser

But things of the past should still matter

I shouldn’t mope, I shouldn’t ponder

The way, sometimes, all things wander

To grieve at times is allowed by most

But an object’s an object, first and foremost

I’ll try to let go, give me an hour

I’ll be my own self, with my own will power

Daniel Copper

9/30/1