faintly smelling like spring rain
remembered in the fall.
the first lips you kissed,
the first time you tasted
your own blood.
a good cigar, and
a shot of french brandy.
the film of time
covering the eyes.
taking away sharpness,
finding form in the vague
and near forgotten!
a Bible that smells
like damp newspapers;
shovelfuls of earth,
and an old Irish hymn.
and the weight of the undone
swings like a pendulum;
words never spoken,
almost touches, almost tears,
chances almost taken
and the fork in the road
i never took
the hoot of an owl.
water running over rocks.
pine needles carpet the ground
never walked on.
a shadow lurking
that knows my name!