Paw prints and
tire tracks seen
indents where clumps
have quietly fallen
creating a frozen
delicate water ring
these I found
after pulling back
curtains raising blinds
and I stood
seeing winter’s silence
Pushed
The bottom line
is simply this
I can easier
avoid falling again
than I can
being pushed from
the dizzying heights
of my expectations
Away
I see the
last bit of
sun bouncing off
wall and onto
vase making it
burn a bright
orange and then
gray like day
is giving way
to the ash
of nights stay
and gone away
Been
I am not
what you lost
but I am
what I found
and in looking
I have seen
many more things
than just what
might have been
Bell
A dusty bell
heard from some
far off place
rings in hushed
dull tones barely
audible but steady
I’m still here
a steady ache
long ago gotten
and used to
that now’s become
just a part
of everyday life
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 