Lost and Found

I tried to be quiet
but the stones
crunched under my feet,

and just as I approached
you jumped into a pool
of molten thought
and disappeared

leaving nothing
but concentric rings
of what might have been
had I remembered.

Upon returning to the forest
I saw you wearing
your floral crown.

When you smiled at me
I realized something
quite profound:

that my grief
for what I lost
transformed to joy
when you were found.

c. Douglas Fireman