And then when
I thought I
Would never again
Drink the spigot
Of you quenched
My parchness like
Lazy falling rain
Bathes blossoms or
Fire hydrants tease
Dancing children on
Hot summer streets
Now sated leaning
Against you I
Wonder looking up
Did you know
I couldn’t speak
Except with lips
And then you
Said you’ve never
Had romance yet
Loved love is
In essence romance
It’s first flight
For a hatchling
And that initial
Skidded landing on
Marshy lake it’s
That one taste
Of snow and
Your first bitter
Lick of lemon
Romance is eyes
And smiles and
Chagrin caught staring
It’s that first
Tentative touch and
Oh yes that
First cautious kiss
This is romance
And to you
My dear boy
Poetry romance lives
There is but
One thing not
Tied to age
But makes everything
Else matter makes
Everything breathe and
Grow and end
It lives beyond
And beyond us
It’s something that
We all have
And rightly give
It is love
Holidays are cruel
Too many memories
Of love curdled
Long lost ornaments
Yellowed wrapping paper
And time tinged
Ribbon joy and
Gleeful laughter now
Go silent fallen
In love married
Now all gone
One last hurdle
In loves steeplechase
Our anniversary will
It trip me
Sending me once
Again to stumble
Or will I
Clear it finally
And trot on
Absent of now
My mind freely
Wanders memories hallways
Like a graduate
Returning to school
Peering through windowed
Doors and remembering
This and that
Removed by time
And fresh perspective
Like a cold
Kills the aroma
So do memories
Merely hint passions
Leaving you famished
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 