We haven’t even
Talked in five
Years and I
Can’t remember what
Your voice sounds
Like even though
Your voice was
The only voice
I knew for
Thirty years I
Know where you
Are and that
You’re happier without
Me there but
I miss you
When you’re gone
Much more when
You will be
Goner gone than
You are today
Ah a smile
Like a galaxy
Of individual stars
Staring at me
Like the lights
Of Christmas trees
Twinkling behind ornaments
Like early sunrise
And harvest moons
Like that very
First crisp bite
Of a freshly
Picked autumn apple
Like those cheesy
Grins in old
Childhood photographs which
Now embarrass everyone
Like mirrors into
Your soul like
Whispers into ears
Just like you
Look at me
I often wonder
Why confessions of
Faith are often
Whispered but declarations
Of belief are
Often yelled for
Everyone else to
Hear the same
Goes for love
The hope for
Love is often
Admitted to pillows
Right before sleep
And the end
Of it is
Heard by just
About every one
Why is it
That when I
Have dreams about
My long gone
Pets I wake
Up with the
Same heavy dull
Heartbreak of loss
And welling tears
As if I’ve
Rediscovered the death
Of my dearest
Dearest loved ones
Because they are
At my age
Nightmares are often
About the death
Of lost love
Creating an ache
I cannot shake
Frightened to sleep
And remember again
Like walking through
A dense forest
In autumn ablaze
In the colors
Of the season
A sky afire
Mesmerized caught in
The equinoxes wildfire
Paratroopers begin to
Leap around me
Spinning like auburn
Lace handkerchiefs when
Suddenly one lands
Softly on my
Sleeve studying it
I see just
Where the sun
Kissed it and
In turn like
You kissed me
Many autumns ago
When I too
Fell like it
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 