Received with Thanks
(For Barbara Gilmer)
I was trapped inside a beat up jalopy, traveling at minimum
speed down a highway to no where. Pavement broke away
some distance back, and left sparsely littered tracks of pebbles
and many bone jarring ruts.
Scenery changed from spring’s playful pinkish hues, as fickle
sun hid its warmth behind quilted clouds converged on distant
horizons, only vaguely aware as a raging storm approached.
Summer never shimmered in front of me on this meandering trail.
Nor did fragrant blossoms line byways; only haphazardly placed
rocks wept upon by thunderous showers, causing rivulets
to scar and mar open prairie fields.
Aware of the coma, autumn’s fiery blaze is shrouded in ghostly
obscurity- denser than dreams, as if afraid to hear whispers
from each vibrant crinkled leaf, or to gaze clearly at messages
left in changing skies.
I was as lost as I wanted to be, communing with dark doses
of reality, missing decimals and octaves of a higher plane.
The engine sputtered its final oath and I sat there motionless
watching my breath fog; then glaze icily on the windows.
Indecision battled with gentle violence, picking up details
in twelve dimensions, purging secrets and the taste of remorse.
A plea bargain was reached while scraping the windshield
free of frost with nail bitten fingertips, spying my surrounds.
How did I get to the end of the rainbow, this valley of ice
where no one lives? All things considered, I never meant
to be a tragedy of circumstance, or a cold embrace with
wet eyes and trembling lips.
And even though colors fade and minds freeze for a duration,
sometimes we’re blessed by kind gestures of an angel:
one who sends warming rays to thaw the path.
Thank you my dear friend, miraculously I met a resemblance
of my former self on the glistening trail home.
Anything goes
hosted by Kaleigh_kay
By Sandi Alford
© 2009 Sandi Alford
(All rights reserved)
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