Leaves are turning red and gold,
a wide array of colors -
and some match the broken mug
that is all I have left
to remind me of a friendship I broke.

I wish you could have been
as clear sighted as Odysseus
and as willing to turn as Raskolnikov.
But you proved as blind
as a poor student with an axe
and as stubborn
as an ancient hero.

I do not wish you
as I would be you be -
for then we would end
each other's fools.
As we already have.

Do me one last favor,
nearly two years
since we finally parted?
Cease haunting me.