Black white red
Or yellow old
Young or in
Between gay straight
Or somewhere in
The middle these
Are just colors
Or numbers or
Desires but what
Bonds one to
The other is
Always what can’t
Be seen or
Counted or enjoyed
It’s simply purely
Love and respect
It’s these invisible
Things that matters
Most and binds
Mortality visited me
Bringing with him
A box which
Contained my tribulations
Inside I found
My years of
Carelessness and frivolity
Snapshots of drunken
Wanton and dangerous
Behaviors gluttony and
Prideful arrogance men
Discarded as phone
Numbers and unkept
Promises to meet
I asked him
What are these
He quietly replied
These are your
Organs if they
Could talk saying
That they’re tired
Of supporting your
Evil ways Oh
So now Now
He said change
To live or
Die a fools
Death and then
He was gone
A sweater some
Flannels a pair
Of fuzzy socks
One cup of
Marshmallow bobbing cocoa
A choral classic
Of familiar melodies
Glassy spheres of
Varying size and
Color a box
Full of green
Twinkling spaghetti whose
Plugs are buried
Beneath green blue
Red and yellow
Bulbs a kidnapped
Evergreen standing naked
A kaleidoscope of
Paper and ribbon
One closet stocked
Full of toys
A stack of
Holiday cards filled
With warm greetings
These are what
The holidays always
Mean to me
And one morning
When I was
Ten I opened
The curtains of
My shared bedroom
Wiped the window
Free of frost
And saw Wonderland
My world was
Covered in snow
Like a cake
Blanketed in buttercream
Frosting the pine
Tree boughs heavy
With millions of
Sparkling whipped cream
Diamonds my brothers
And I dashed
Donned in jammies
And robes out
The door skidding
And sliding laughing
Gleefully forming snowballs
Like fluffy balls
Of yarn tossing
Them at each
Other on this
First snow day
As mother greeted
Us with hot
Cocoa and marshmallows
Winter is here
Finally in Wisconsin
And like an
Eyelash delicately swept
Away by my
Finger and like
A dew drop
Bouncing from the
Leaf to petal
To ground and
Like the first
Snowflake landing upon
My outstretched tongue
And still like
The last auburn
Maple leaf that
Falls on a
Forest floor my
Kisses find my
Way from face
To foot these
Are the piquitos
Of my desire
For only you
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 