With each chat
Each new secret
I plant seeds
Of possibility that
I water with
Affection and interest
Compassion and kindness
Watching my field
Of acquaintances grow
Into a forest
Of friends amongst
Which I hide
When the world
Eventually frightens me
Because it does
And they do
They always do
Absent of now
My mind freely
Wanders memories hallways
Like a graduate
Returning to school
Peering through windowed
Doors and remembering
This and that
Removed by time
And fresh perspective
Like a cold
Kills the aroma
So do memories
Merely hint passions
Leaving you famished
Chatting over espresso
He admitted that
He was from
The middle of
Nowhere but I
Asked isn’t even
The middle of
Nowhere somewhere why
He asked because
I said after
Kissing him you’re
Definitely not anyone
From anywhere or
No one from
Nowhere you’re someone
From somewhere and
That somewhere and
Someone is the
One that’s right
Here with me
There are many
Things that I
Remember about you
The most poignant
Are by far
The least important
Things as silly
And as simple
As the way
In which I
Lit your cigarette
To forget that
I quit smoking
All together rather
Than remembering it
I tend to
Build new relationships
On the shoulders
Of old ones
As though my
Love is a
Seven layer cake
With the sweetest
Filling at the
Bottom not because
It’s the best
Just the first
Upon which all
Others are measured
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 