Spring has once
Again returned here
Trees are popping
April buds like
Crackers at Christmas
And Daffodils Tulips
And early Daisies
Dance in yards
Like robed choir
Singers at Baptist
Sunday church service
Irises and Peonies
Begin to yawn
With short stalks
Of leafy green
Like barren flagpoles
Saul is bashfully
Warm like the
Blushing cheeks of
Teenagers at their
First mixed dance
This is today
Here in Charlotte
And just when
Absence made me
Sink in you
Jumped trying to
Save me with
Wit and charm
Taking hold of
Me and the
Buoyancy of feelings
You steered me
To safety for
That I won’t
Forget my own
Younger life guard
Life is like
A rosary and
Each small bead
Represents a memory
Between the larger
Beads which are
Your loves of
Life it isn’t
Until you reach
The end are
You blessed with
Jesus and God
The reason for
All the rest
I sometimes feel
Like a prairie
Flower in the
Hands of a
Forlorn lover plucking
My petals in
Pursuit of love
As though my
Own beauty is
Forgotten in lieu
Of theirs does
He not see
Me my prettiness
Instead I’m simply
A thing found
Faraway upon which
To bemoan and
After used far
Uglier than when
This first began
When I hear
DeBussy’s Nocturne my
Heart which I
Wear on my
Sleeve bleeds saturating
My arm crimson
As clear tears
Well and roll
Wetting my lips
I miss those
Long lost loves
Like the kite
Caught in headwinds
Snatching it from
My hands taking
It somewhere else
Now a limp
String with nowhere
To fly I
Simply sit and
Imagine its life
In someone else’s
Hands bringing joy
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 