Autumn Stories

Autumn Stories

We wrapped ourselves in

old wool, too long spared within

the attics of Stromsburg Nebraska .

And nights we ran in darkness,

trees our company, dark and

quaking as the sound we made died hollow...

leaving only night and the moon to lick the

water.

You told me stories, later,

of people you knew that I had forgotten,

and I fell asleep to the rhythm of your

words... I never cared for the others as much

as you did, but your stories were full of night air

and long highways that always led to friends.

And when I thought I'd lost my only true love,

I found you first to bury my eyes

in your shoulder and wet your t-shirt there in the

Laundromat in Lubbock Texas.

I don't even know what you said

but you stood beside me when I married

her.

After that,

warming yourself in my house,

you listened, speaking softly to my wife

saying words that lingered in the curtains and on the

couch, when you had to leave town. They were fragrant

and we return to them

frequently, watching you cross your long legs, waiting for

you to formulate the answer... wanting to hug you

before you leave.