i came back here to remember
our first night alone in the woods
two boys, their tent, and their pipes
the forest lit up then
as if it knew the life
that would pass between us
honey mushroom and jack-o-lantern
shimmered, blazed a blue path
through this stretch of hardwood
campfire stroked the oak canopy
we talked of god and girls and love
click beetles skittered over glowworms in the leaves
and after, when embers had died,
foxfire cast aurora around us and railroad worms
swung like ornaments in hawthorns
night gleamed, shined, radiated
we sat and waited and watched
silver-crusted, moon flecked, fireflied
heat lightning danced on the horizon
we dreamed of growing up
driving cars, and drinking beer
and we drank and drove
fell in with girls
and forgot this place
the quiet of it all
this vast world where you and I
believed we would live forever
the night just isn’t as bright as I remember,
life just hasn’t been the same
since you’ve been gone
