Spirit Guide

He walked through town,
Late one afternoon,
Wearing a Cheshire smile
I asked him, “why?”
And he said,
“Come walk with me a while.”
We strolled on,
Looking for a dark street,
A lawn, an open field
Somewhere we could stand
Or sit, or lie
Manufactured light
Obscured, occulted
A  phrase turned oddly,
Thought, I
Though I knew
Just what he meant

Move slowly,
Breathe deeply,
Inhale and exhale,
And again
Perhaps we’ll fluff the pillows
On porch-front rocking chairs
Push back as we sit down
Rock like floating on an ocean
Until we come to rest;
Pushing off more effort
Than  the reward

We’ll sit then and talk quietly
Describe what are lives have been, might be

First, we’ll check the house
Dark as we might wish
A clear sky
Sheds brightness on us
Yet our view shows less
Less than we hope
Like we have fog
Behind our eyes
Or have inhaled the light
Light bulb our symbol
Thoughts and new ideas

We walk deeper into the night
Beneath closely-grown trees
Still houses, buildings fill our sight
Still our sight, our vision, you and me

Beyond the bulwarks,
The caltrops
Bastions which guard
Guard against the dregs
Garbage and people
The haunted looks
Those with no home
No hope,
Only a vision
Of the gutter,
Heads held down
Those who have less
Less than nothing
Till even the rats
Live better than
And have more
Much more chance
To escape
Greasy streets
Litter, syringes,
Broken things
Detritus of the broken
Our lives, our world

We’ll wait then and talk still more quietly
Describe what are lives might have been, should be

Then, we laugh
My companion first
Finally
We have escaped
Our prison of light
Though it looms
Behind us,
Snaps at our heels
Tries to herd us,
Corral us
Back among
The huddled
The addled masses

Yearning to be free
We pull the night around us
Cower, hold our breath
Afraid of the light
Afraid, it will reveal us
Or we will bolt and run
Shedding thought, worry
Desire to be
To be so small
We go unnoticed
So large we imagine
Imagine ourselves
Stars and galaxies
Vast darkness
Between us all
More distant
Than a blank stare
Envisioning distant vistas
Seeking eternity
Hoping for the unknown
Hoping for treasure
Craving peace, darkness
Not of the grave
But of the night sky
The stars

Still, we stare
Stare at the stars
The sky
So marvelous
Yet so limited
We create patterns
Mapping our journey
Desire to recognize,
Desire something
We’re sure
We already know
Though never
Have we seen it
We wonder
Without realizing
All we seek is wonder
From which
We find our source

Until finally
In full darkness
The heavens blaze
Awestruck, we are
Reduced to the size
Of our greatness
Understanding how
How foolish we’ve become