I'll Try to Pencil You In
A poem that I wrote before going into work one day. I was feeling pretty burnt out and needed to let off some steam
I can’t transcend my flesh
I have a meeting tomorrow at 9
No time for deeper introspection
When the quarter ends this month
I think often of conversations
Late night confessionals with the trappings of ritual
Where I briefly glimpse some higher truth
Before it dances out of my perception
It’s by design, of course it is
God forbid there is a moment of peace
The deadlines march ever onward, steadfast and resolute
Which line was it, exactly, that gave up my spirit?
I struggle, often, to explain my religion
The oddball intricacies of a personal revelation
I am too cowardly to touch
Instead, I search for understanding that will not come
I took a detour on my usual walk
As I heard something call out to me
Deep within a copse of trees
Just down the hill with the sign that read
“No Trespassing”
I stepped into the circle and was overcome
The spirals of green and the strange
Twisting growth of the old trees fascinate
Unbidden, the words come to my lips
“I know I am not welcome.
I take no pictures, only memories.”
I couldn’t take a picture, even if I wanted
I left my phone in the car
Peculiar, isn’t it?
How could I have known in advance?
On the way to the grove, I saw a dog
All white and fluffy like a living snowbank
Later, I saw their twin
A black lab lazing in the sun, guarding a pool
Am I silly for seeing signs that are not there?
For trying to interpret the calm and peace as other?
But I suppose, when you have run from it long enough
Rest is a foreign god you are not ready to know