2004Jul18 (Poem)

Yesterday’s lover
Passed without revisit
Curled me up and laid me down
While school girls woke me
Teasing “Daddy, I’m home”
Woke me to adult-hood
Held me over – holding out
Until today when I at last faded
Drifted away without help
And felt my heart sing
Near the fire at ruby gulch
The cards have been burned and torn
The mine shaft has been flooded
I could never spear a fish
And all that’s left if the
Indelible image of Leticia
Etched on the forefront of my mind
All there ever was, was an image
She was never really there
Where my fantasies glowed in the coals
And my feet froze alone
Down in the tent near the creek
She was maybe only real
That moment I caught a glimpse of perfection
Echoed in her eyes – And now I feel
Maybe she was that gem-like flash
Of the fish that bolted by
Or the sharp rock that sliced my tire
And reminded me how to ask for help
Maybe she was the snow that fell
And broke my camp
Another ten miles walking, or a thousand
[continued next day]
Or maybe just a single step.