Ah a smile
Like a galaxy
Of individual stars
Staring at me
Like the lights
Of Christmas trees
Twinkling behind ornaments
Like early sunrise
And harvest moons
Like that very
First crisp bite
Of a freshly
Picked autumn apple
Like those cheesy
Grins in old
Childhood photographs which
Now embarrass everyone
Like mirrors into
Your soul like
Whispers into ears
Just like you
Look at me
Why is it
That when I
Have dreams about
My long gone
Pets I wake
Up with the
Same heavy dull
Heartbreak of loss
And welling tears
As if I’ve
Rediscovered the death
Of my dearest
Dearest loved ones
Because they are
At my age
Nightmares are often
About the death
Of lost love
Creating an ache
I cannot shake
Frightened to sleep
And remember again
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
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
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 