Stuck in the middle
Between hither and nigh
Rock and hard place
The present and past
Squeezed in vices jaws
You simply can’t breathe
There’s that thing over
There that once was
Sweet comfortable and succulent
But has now soured
And this thing here
Plump exciting and promising
Cautious teasing and playful
Turning away from one
And towards the other
Causes a hearts thunderstorm
Cold and warm fronts
Colliding and me the
Kansas town hunkering down
Hoping for the best
My nighttime dreams brought
Happiness an odd array
Of characters had gathered
To surprise me on
My birthday hosted by
My ex husband and
Attended by long lost
At one time friends
Now serving his command
The war he declared
Against me years ago
But my dream was
A bit of homecoming
As though I’d entered
The gates of Heaven
It was like it
Was many years ago
Who doesn’t love a
Rousing marching band winding
Its way through streets
Churning up excited emotions
But me but now
I prefer to whistle
And sometimes to hum
Both of which fade
To a saturating silence
There was certainly before
And then there was
When and now there’s
Now and tomorrow might
Be coming but love
Is like water itself
Sometimes rain sometimes monsoon
And the heart a
Creek bed capable hardly
Always able to handle
The deluge of storms
Breaking banks tearing apart
Leaving waste and destruction
Until at last time
Redefines what was once
And just when my
Waterproofing dried in comes
Another trickle where’d that
Come from following the
Winding wetness I see
An open window a
Photograph loosely taped to
The side of some
Other obscure memory slumping
To the humid concrete
Of my hearts basement
I admit I’m doomed
The water will win
He will always find
A way to remind
Me that he was
Once here still is
And always will be
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 