Some just can’t stay
It’s a lesson learned
Likely as a child
For me it was
Spike a roughhousing cat
Why he had to
Go I’ll never know
And throughout my life
Others followed him to
Where I’ll never know
But as I age
I do know this
That wherever they have
Gone that I will
Too one day follow
Things often exist long
Before someone calls them
Anything these things go
About doing but only
Be when someone say
Hey look at that
Calling something a name
Never makes it so
It makes it recognizable
Should it happen again
Before that it’s still
Some would probably say
That I’ve lost it
But here’s the funny
Thing about losing things
We can only lose
Things that we had
Since I never had
You you weren’t mine
To lose so what
If anything were you
A near miss a
Maybe and maybe even
A whoopsie close enough
To maim but not
Close enough to lose
I knew a leaf
Once a magnificent leaf
I watched him bud
And yawn and shiver
On my favorite tree
He whistled in spring
And sunned in summer
He took great pride
In keeping raindrops off
Of hiding children beneath
But then Autumn came
And he grew tired
He lost his looks
And his boyish verve
One day while walking
I heard him ask
What’s happening to me
I looked up saying
It’s time to go
But you’ll be back
In the hearts of
Those who remember you
It’s hard to admit
That you are old
Done chasing and ready
To sit and remember
The first things to
Float are those hoped
Forgotten that sting bite
And buzz about obnoxiously
Next the lily pads
Tethered to something deeper
But seeing their beauty
As they open up
And finally clear water
Which is nothing actually
Actually it is nothing
Which are my fondest
Peaceful memories of all
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 