Good morning I
Whispered into your
Beard like I
Was talking to
My teddy bear
As a child
Reaching under the
Blanket for your
Chest like I
Did when I
Touched that hairy
Bigger than me
Port Washington dog
Feeling you stir
Turning towards me
Like that malestorm
Discovered in the
Rocky River pulling
Me slowly deliciously
Into and down
Submerging in you
This quiet and
Sleepy new day
My dear boy
I don’t expect
You to understand
What I say
But rather gather
My wisdom like
Fireflies in jars
Be mesmerized by
Their dance enjoy
How they light
Up your world
The release them
Allowing them to
Do their dance
For someone else
And your message
This morning arrived
As sweetly as
You lifting the
Covers and letting
My cold body
Snuggle up behind
You your heat
Warming me slowly
No flash fire
But rather the
Slow and quiet
Intimacy shared while
Telling secrets and
Ghost stories around
A failing bonfire
On that night
In Wyoming canyons
Do you remember
My words stall
And sputter like
A Cessna out
Of gas high
Over my readers
Simply gliding now
No sounds of
Engines I’m a
Bird in flight
Looking for a
Flat pasture upon
Which to land
Finding none I
Careen into trees
Destroying everything but
Now ground bound
No longer free
And so we
Shouted at each
Other like travelers
On opposite sides
Of a canyon
Uncertain if we
Were answering the
Other or our
Own echoes responding
Like swimmers told
To empty the
Pool we lobbed
Goodbyes never really
Intending to leave
Instead we walked
Towards each other
Across the rickety
Bridge we built
Meeting in the
Middle knowing that
We’re stronger together
Than ever apart
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 