When I need rhythm, you duck
behind the trumpets.

When I need line-breaks,
you take a break.

I often lose you
among leafy autumn words
or flaky wintery sentences.

I try to recall times when
we’ve worked well together —    

in sunrises and sunsets,
and, of course, the moon. 

Sometimes I feel like
I’ve lost you forever,

but then, like a rabbit
from a hat,
you appear on my page.

Although It’s stressful waiting
for your helpful pen,

I love you just the way you are
as we knock back a few words
before you slip away.

Judith Ristow is a lives in Colfax, Wisconsin. She started writing poetry after retiring as a technical college administrator. She has taught sessions of poetry for Chippewa Valley Learning in Retirement, and is a member of Chippewa Valley Writers in Menomonie. Her poems have appeared in the Wisconsin Regional Writers Journal and the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Calendar.