When I write
Words take my
Hands and pull
Me to the
Dance floor they
Spin me and
Dip they tease
Me with the
Harmonies of their
Melodies they whisper
Into my ear
I’m all yours
My love let
Us waltz and
Samba and be
Together right here
Gleefully exhausted I
Slump and begin
To do this
Now to you
Outside my window
I spy tiny
Glass ornaments hanging
Off of leaves
They mirror and
Magnify in little
Ways things around
Them and if
I listen closely
I can hear
Them scream weeeeee
As the fall
And bounce to
The floor below
Like licking batteries
Or playing with
A mousetrap and
Getting snapped mistakes
Are simply lessons
To be learned
Tools in toolbox
Cautions in decisions
Fear not the
Shock or snap
For if one
Doesn’t try one
Doesn’t learn like
Ducks crash landing
On icy skillet
Ponds or cubs
Climbing in trees
Bouncing when fall
We are always
Always learning something
Especially in love
My dear boy
We are all
Born one thing
Then become another
Like the acorn
Begins as something
Round and hard
Then with time
Becomes something majestic
Let yourself be
Protected right now
And over time
Your canopy spreads
Then withstanding anything
Bringing eventual shade
To everything else
And just then
Like a breeze
Making land fall
Off some coast
You’re damp moistness
Lingered on cheeks
It’s light saltiness
Brought brief surprise
And I felt
It tickle lips
And then realized
In my half-sleep
That this breeze
Was you laying
Next to me
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 