Nights are haunted
By dreams of
Times gone by
Of swimming languidly
In loves sweet
Pools of affection
Remembering smiles summer
Warmth on faces
Are these dreams
Harbingers of hope
Or a dereliction
Of damnation now
I believe hope
For even if
I am damned
I am damned
To tread water
Remembering you forever
And then the
Boy said to
The man look
At your hands
They have tilled
Fields and held
Babies look at
Your eyes they
Squint because of
So many sunsets
Now look at
Your heart it’s
Just as new
As mine is
Love knows no
Age or year
I miss you
But since you
No longer read
These you’ll never
Know just like
The first snowflake
Of a blizzard
Never understands what
It itself started
When it decided
To alight on
My warm tongue
And yes often
A pot unstirred
Boils over ignored
And left unattended
That’s when you
Realize that it’s
Your fault to
Have started something
Before you were
Ready to give
It your attention
Now a mess
To clean up
Rather than enjoy
And then it
Came the blame
Not so much
A bark but
A quiet whimper
Almost like fall
Winds rustling through
The dried leaves
We had become
Ownership of over
And finally done
So unlike the
Blaze that decimated
Each of us
At the beginning
Time for winter
Now to heal
And await spring
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 