Cupid is stupid 4


Cu-pid is stu-pid.


He doesn’t aim straight.  He shoots his arrow at the one you’re not interested in, not that fine one over there whose affection you seek.
His timing is off. He shows up when he wants to, not when you want him, need him or plead for him to.
He’s silently selective.  Some people he never shoots at all.
He’s blind and you need him to see.
He’s mercurial.  There are two of you but only shoots one of you despite having a quiver full of arrows.
He’s mischievous – playing games with our emotions like a “gangster of love.”*
He’s reckless – slinging arrows into unsuspecting hearts, paying no attention to whether they’ve already been claimed.
He’s deaf – he doesn’t hear your entreaties (or heed them either).
He teases;



Cupid
does what he damn well pleases!


He’s effective – there’s no ignoring his bidding when he’s shot straight into your heart.


Cupid is frustrating and amazing, scary and oh, so necessary.


Cupid is stupid except when he’s smart, as he was one fine day, six years ago.  He flung arrows at two lonely and lovely people at the same time.  We’ve been loving ever since.


Happy Valentine’s Day.


Check out: Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire by Julius Lester, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2007
* The Joker by Steve Miller Band (1973)


About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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4 thoughts on “Cupid is stupid

  • Paula

    I have a tattoo. It is of a heart with a banner. Cupid waits above, at the ready. The banner says “You Bastard”, and Cupid has a blow dart. I was inspired by 2 songs by a great band called The Beautiful South. It’s a comment about Cupid, not a love lost or how I feel about my partner.

    Your post sums it up. But sometimes, the imperfect aim Cupid has brings us together with someone who is as imperfect as we are.

    “Close your eyes, and imagine that I’m nice/Cupid’s arrow looking more like Cupid’s poison dart”
    -The Beautiful South, Something That You Said

  • George Edward Buggs

    Valentine’s day–Oh what an opportunity for sadness! La petite mort, as the French say, “the little death”, thrives at the heart of this madness. On this day my heart dissolves like pieces of homemade cake in my mouth, sweet while melting, filled with memories of days and nights I’m still inviting. Each memory sheds light on the love of my life my friend. Each reveals I’ve been in love with a very special spirit’s kin— or, okay, maybe even a few of them. Whatever! But this Valentine’s day, while dwelling on memories, I bring to you an attempt to create a metaphor that may please–or simply tease. When in love days and nights are like fine wine in beautiful long-stemmed crystal glasses. For you dear memories, may each hour at its end, may each glass at its brim, be filled with goodness, sincerity and gladness.
    George Edward Buggs