He was at the breakfast table,
Sunlight angled through the window,
And I said, “I haven’t seen you
In so long. Where have you been?”

He said sunlight at the table,
Forty-dollar yard sale table,
Sunlight silent as a stairway
At the old Formica table.

Oh how glad I was to see him!
So we sat and had our visit,
Saying sunlight at the table,
Stained and lovely breakfast table.

Selected byRaymond Huffman
Image credit:Elena Mozhvilo

Peter is a psychotherapist previously working in HIV/AIDS and community mental health, now in private practice in Portland and Los Angeles. He  has two books out (Gay Fairy Tales, Harper

SanFrancicsco, 1995) and (Gay Fairy and Folk Tales, Faber and Faber, 1997). He's survived addiction, bereavement, and the transitions from youth to middle age and middle age to old age, and believes you can too.