Like a tree
That has shed
Its leaves I
Stand naked barren
Ready for winters
Onslaught of snow
And biting cold
Yet I know
That what comes
After is new
Spring full of
Budding blooming life
And those long
Warm summer days
Of shimmying shade
I’m not worried
I’m happy for
I am alive
Always beautifully alive
This night my
Heart will surely
Break it’s been
Pounded and tenderized
Before held together
By hope and
Chicken wire but
Tonight oh tonight
It’s going to
Be shattered into
A million tiny
Bits do me
A favor will
You scoop some
Up and take
Them because some
Belong to you
Tonight we meet
To finally talk
Summit of sorts
To outline futures
Going forward I
Don’t wish positions
Or the bartering
Of belongings I
Do hope that
We settle differences
And remain friends
And strong allies
For the future
We’ve come this
Far waged wars
Connected our divides
Than to be
Anything less than
Comrades in arms
Would simply be
Much too little
Do I keep
All these photographs
Watching them age
As surely as
You will do
Or discard them
Without a trace
Haunting me instead
In memoried dreams
Do I touch
Your papered face
Retracing where once
My fingers danced
Peering into eyes
That once I
Watched fall asleep
Do I remember
Your giggling laughter
Like far off
Melodies being played
Or let you
Go like fall
Into the winter
Isn’t the purpose
Of keeping things
To use them
Then why should
I keep you
Around it’s simple
Just because I
Lost you doesn’t
Mean that I
Will lose you
True love never
Dies it’s repurposed
Into something else
It’s not fallen
By strong winds
Or drown by
Rain it changes
Going from giddiness
To the iciness
Of being alone
But I do
Know that while
Flames of lust
Ignite the passions
What keeps life
Alive are embers
We will sit
And warm each
Other again soon
At arms length
And no closer
Neither of us
Sparking and igniting
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 