Like walking through
A dense forest
In autumn ablaze
In the colors
Of the season
A sky afire
Mesmerized caught in
The equinoxes wildfire
Paratroopers begin to
Leap around me
Spinning like auburn
Lace handkerchiefs when
Suddenly one lands
Softly on my
Sleeve studying it
I see just
Where the sun
Kissed it and
In turn like
You kissed me
Many autumns ago
When I too
Fell like it
I remember once
Sitting at a
Buffet hungry but
Not really sure
For what so
I sampled a
Bit of this
And some of
That and while
Full I wasn’t
Satisfied until I
Spied that one
Perfect steaming dish
And then just
As I reached
For it someone
Else took the
Last helping leaving
Me hungrier than
I ever was
Before sitting down
I sat patiently
Waiting and hoping
More would arrive
And yet you
You were gone
Why is it
That the one
Thing that you
Never asked happened
To be the
One thing the
Lynchpin holding everything
Else together snuggly
And then during
The rumble and
Rattle of us
It slipped out
On some dusty
Country road careening
You in one
Direction and me
In the other
Unable to find
That damned pin
We simply stare
At each other
Wondering how do
We ever get
Back to the
Place we were
Like a child
Mesmerized by his
Bounty of gifts
Stacked beneath the
Tree or like
The guests intoxicated
By the wafting
Aromas of turkey
Stuffing yams and
Pie billowing from
Warm kitchens dreaming
Of pants busting
Meals I am
Thinking of you
On this particularly
Cold Carolina morning
And there it
Was my future
Piercing through the
Heavy canopies of
My past illuminating
My path with
Each step out
Of the darkness
It led me
To a glen
Brimming with possibilities
Which are you
My solemn darkness
Or my sunlight
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 