He favored this poem
but never explained
the one named Smoke
by Henry David Thoreau
remembered Walden fame
Was the poem a mirror
reflecting a life
in fullness lived?

a pilot as Icarius
youthful ascents of flight
Were his pinions melted
in one upward climb?
Then a sharp descent
may have in the mirror appeared
discovering atomic paths
searching for particles
in their hidden depths
An Icarian bird once more
in a new pursuit?
Facing dangers in
desert flashes
like Icarius moving
much too close to
elemental light?

Or else
smoke thins and thickens
No more circling above
leaving his nest now
pursuing literary truth
where darkness also
has its due
Shading light from sun
and stars
Enabling students to
see anew
Imaginations soaring to
heights and depths

But he remembers still
a life complete and whole
Does he find any need
for pardon for this
his own clear flame?

I'll end this verse with
a sound some would
call a chime
This because 'til now
just one line did rhyme!