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
I awoke from
Sleep breathless and
Startled as though
Those in my
Dreams were holding
Me under water
At once realizing
That they are
The ones gone
And not me
I am yet
Alive charged still
With this life
Which is worse
To be the
Living haunted or
Those gone haunting
And one day
Long ago I
Left him there
Right where I
Found him worse
For the wear
And filled with
Adventures and conquest
And battles and
Picnics but I
Never ever forgot
My first friend
That homely ruddy
One eyed bear
We all make
A mark somewhere
In this life
Sometimes as broad
As shoveling
A path through
Snow drifts or
The placement of
Bread atop refrigerators
That change how
We see things
Or find things
Yet some are
As subtle as
A thumbprint on
Those you love
We haven’t even
Talked in five
Years and I
Can’t remember what
Your voice sounds
Like even though
Your voice was
The only voice
I knew for
Thirty years I
Know where you
Are and that
You’re happier without
Me there but
I miss you
When you’re gone
Much more when
You will be
Goner gone than
You are today
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 