This morning’s sky
Looks as if
Saul dumped a
Bag of cotton
Balls there with
Long white streaks
Like a cats whiskers
The tree tops
Glow like big
Nightlights yellow and
Green like early
Autumn gourds spindly
Trunks shoot in
All directions like
The spokes of
A bicycle as
Birds gab and
Rumor about chill
Here this morning
The body is
The temple of
The soul but
It’s just a
Vessel a canoe
Which floats upon
The lake that
The soul is
Come swim with
Me abandon your
Boat get naked
And let us
Paddle languidly in
All that the
Other beautifully is
On coming rain
Looms like the
Flashing lights of
A patrol car
In rear-view mirrors
Creating an anxiety
Until you’re wet
Hoping for thunder
Stormy days make
Me want to
Curl beneath blankets
Like critters burrowing
Deeper together huddling
Waiting for clouds
To pass by
I’m relieved that
We’re done like
A poorly prepared
Student sighs at
The end of
A tough exam
I’m relieved like
A patient discovering
It’s simply a
Cold nothing worse
Relieved like a
Child wrapping his
First present and
A frightened actor
Simply reciting lines
There’s simply no
Fun in us
Yet once again
I whiffed swung
My bat and
Missed hitting the
Trickery that men
Lob at me
Like summer showers
My affair is
Over as quickly
As it began
Not even friends
Just memories of
Forced kisses and
Cold desperate affection
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 