LITTLE OUTPOST NAMED SUNSET

There is a town to the West of you.
There, oddly, the sun sets early.
Smiles await you,
but for themselves there is only silence
and the shadow beneath the trees.
Saudade leans against the woodshed;
his hat pulled low, her collar well up,
occasionally regarding a tattered
hand-written letter.
Sad little town wherein all inhabitants
share a single experience: they have lost
the love of their lives.

I am Sorrow.  I am Regret.  I am Remorse.
All of that today.  Tomorrow I will smile
for the children.  I will laugh
for my friends.  Beside Lolo Creek
I will be still as a deep pool, watching
the small fish jump,
struggle atop the water
to find a way back in.