My dear boy
This I know
The great relationships
Of your life
Will be adaptable
They will flex
And move like
A River willow
They will give
Shade like a
Prairie oak when
Life’s blazing heat
Weakens you they
Will wither and
Fall like elms
In late autumn
And then with
Time they will
Sprout again like
Garden daffodils bringing
Glee and joy
These relationships last
Forever because they
Know that they’re
Not there for
Just a season
And there is
A day here
In America on
The last Thursday
In November when
The skies are
Grey and littered
With snow and
The wind blows
Cold against faces
That people carry
Pots dishes pans
Wine and desserts
Into friendly houses
To gather around
A table giving
Thanks for those
Most important things
The greatest of
Which are their
Families however that
Group is defined
A day of
Laughter and football
Of stories and
Old jokes of
Belly busting feasts
Here in America
Today is Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to
My friends and
Family I’m thinking
Of you all
In life and
Love we often
Run away from
What we are
And choose what
We are not
Eventually both catch
Up with us
Surrendering we fall
Defeated but just
Until our heart
Takes its first
Full deep breath
At long last
Alive
Fathers and Daddies
Men that teach
Guide and groom
Boys to men
One day a
Special day recognizes
Those things passed
Down like a
Baton in life’s
Relay race sometime
Dropped yet always
Finished remember those
That made you
You
Happy Father/Daddy day
The air this
Morning smells like
The crisp piney
Cedar aroma of
My family’s cabin
In northern Wisconsin
The small one
Room cottage was
Surrounded by tall
Pines and cedars
Which shed needles
And bark perfect
For a crackling and
Aromatic camp fire
The inside of the
Cabin held a
Musty smell until
My mother and
Grandmother swept and
Mopped the locked
Up smell behind
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 