There I said
It that word
Or words that
Everyone wants to
Hear but never
Wants to be
The first to
Say I just
Fired it a
Big volley across
His bow as
A warning shot
Of what was
To come and
He came about
Quickly as a
Ship can and
Took aim and
I felt the
Impact squarely in
My chest I
Know you do
I do too
When I say
That I love
You I’m not
Speaking to a
Canyon expecting an
Echo I’m speaking
To you I
Don’t expect you
To understand what
It means to
Me I expect
You to understand
Just what it
Means to you
We knew almost
Almost immediately that
We knew each
Other before then
When we were
Different but the
Same that somehow
This time we
Remembered then when
Things were exactly
The way today
Skipping stones almost
Always skip before
They dive into
Where they belong
It’s the small
Things that amuse
Me a sleepy
Kitten purring or
The hysterical lapping
Tongue of an
Anxious wiggling puppy
Or snow drops
Popping through late
April snow and
Even mid-July cloudbursts
That give rise
To steamy streets
But most of
All it’s your
Just-about-to-sleep nighttime riddles
That tickle me
Today during these
Short days of
Winter I remember
Those long shadowed
Days of summer
Particularly that one
Late summer evening
When you rested
Your head in
My lap while
I smoked a
Cigar and we
Simply looked at
Each other as
Though we were
Seeing the other
For the first
Time neither of
Us knowing then
That like summer
Winter would soon
Befall even us
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 