Dismantling Me
by Tom Squitieri
It is dark now
In the morning as
Fall draws closer
So it is only the steam of
My coffee and nothing
Else with me
Except of course
You
The smile
In the steam
Hard to think of
A better way to begin
A day
Except to know you
Will be here with me
The entire day
Dismantling me
From the past
And reminding
Me of the future
I am on the deck
Now, overlooking the end
Of the garden season
But think more of the seeds
That were planted today
That will grow for
A new season that
Ignores a calendar
​
Just a ray of
Moonlight
Shows me the wildflowers
As the basil sends only its smell
And the proud tomatoes,
Lush and ready,
Know soon they will
Be enjoyed
We will drink
This fragrant coffee
Full of love
And watch a
perfect, creative day
Call to us
​
Soon the sun
Will say hello
And then it will
stop to stare,
As our smiles tell
the sky we
see each other
When fall holds
Hands with spring
And gives us winter hugs
And summer warmth
We know we have found it
Tom Squitieri is a three-time winner of the Overseas Press Club and White House Correspondents' Association awards for work as a war correspondent. He is blessed to have his poetry appear in 35 venues including publications, books and anthologies, podcasts, a spoken word concert, the art exhibition Color: Story2020/2021, and the films “Rings of the Unpromised” and "Fate's Shadow: The Whole Story," where he shared the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival "Grand Jury Prize Gold for Monologues & Poetry." For 2023, he is the poet laureate of the Rose Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He writes most of his poetry while parallel parking or walking his dogs, Topsie, Batman, and Melody.