You can offer
A man both
Bread and water
But if he’s
Not hungry or
Thirsty he won’t
Eat or drink
That does not
Mean that you
Withdraw your generosity
The Kingdoms of
Heaven aren’t filled
With those that
Took but rather
Those that offered
Remain steadfast in
Your offers for
Leaving this world
With empty pockets
Makes for a
Lighter ascent like
A balloon freed
Of its string
I have learned
That in life
Mysteries are unveiled
Like dawn breaking
Over Honolulu ridges
Secrets appear quietly
Like fawns stepping
Free from brambles
At last exposed
Like a groundhog
Deciding whether to
Hide again or
Face the season
I have this
Haunting this fear
Of being lost
In a dark
Wood veiled moonlight
Patching on leaves
Moss and stone
No rescuer hears
My begging call
Wandering stumbling falling
Hoping pleading begging
But my salvation
Falls on deaf
Ears absorbed into
The forgotten trees
And then there
I do know
Oh not why
Me but what
Me what me
Will rescue me
Learning that life
Is less about
Permission and more
About forgiveness for
Those awaiting salvation
Shall always wait
Alone like the
Last remaining peony
Once a bouquet
Gathered and plucked
From a prairie
Of wild flowers
Singled out for
My splash of
This and that
Perhaps a distraction
Maybe a desire
To capture something
Wild and distinguished
But linger I
Do endure I
Must not for
Me but for
All those that
Spy upon me
We are like
Magnets sometimes fighting
To get away
While at others
So strongly attracted
That we simply
Slap against each
Other we are
Like old stale
Jokes that bring
Erupting laughter despite
Their habitual reappearance
Sometimes we’re calm
Like a Honolulu
Beach at sunrise
But mostly we’re
Like a letter
Finding its comfort
Inside its envelope
We’re not meant
To be together
Yet here we
Are always together
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 