I do remember
Watching my auntie
Primp and preen
On Friday afternoons
For that nights
Fish-fry and bingo
At the end
And with the
Flourish of witchcraft
Slap slap slap
As powder exploded
Like cosmetic Armageddon
Creating a cloudy
Dust which slowly
Revealed the bluest
Of blue eyes
Blinking and sparkling
While yellowed teeth
Laughed broadly amused
Give a kiss
Right here boy
She would ask
Pulling me into
Her sunny magic
This is what
This mornings sky
Reminds me of
And sitting atop
A grand magical
Forest green we
Wondered what if
We joined forces
You of magic
Me of beauty
Could would should
We change anything
In your world
As in mine
There are troubles
That we cannot
Prevent nor cure
There is pain
Suffering and despair
We are not
The harbingers of
Change but simply
Kings of possibilities
Only when the
World disgusts itself
By its selfishness
Only then will
They notice us
With hearts empty
And eyes open
Day is serving
A Neapolitan sky
Above the treeline
Burns strawberry peach
Just above that
Layered yellow vanilla
And beyond that
Dense dark blueberry
Even the moon
Can be seen
Like a small
White bitten cookie
Bungalows jostled close
To each other
Like feeding lambs
As door sounds
Follow the goodbyes
Life start here
Again this morning
The most painful
Thing for me
Is watching you
Fall and choosing
Not to run
To your side
At some point
In every boy’s
Life he’s got
To learn that
Only he can
Stand himself up
And face bullies
Whatever they are
This is the
Hardest and greatest
Gift anyone can
Give to someone
That they love
I pray that
You will rise
It is in
These early dawn
Hours when asleep
You all are
That I find
My greatest peace
You still sleeping
Yet I am
Now dreaming these
Delicate petit fours
Sweet and savory
Morsels of memory
That tickle and
Hang and dissolve
And disappear into
Another and another
These waves coming
Ashore bringing with
Them trinkets of
By gone times
That I collect
Like a child
On Coney Island
Wondering where they
Started then remembering
It was there
Of course way
Way out there
And reaching out
To the horizon
I pinch that
Thin line between
Sea and sky
Gone they go
Replaced now by
Your sleepy eyes
Looking at me
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 