Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Chasing Fog



author's note:

As they say in the movies: based on a true story.


CHASING FOG

One misty childhood morning
I tried to lose myself
in a fog cloud
hovering across the field.

I ran--in a blur, I ran
over there
and then back
and then over there again--

the fog kept moving:

wherever I was
was where it was not.

Finally I had to stop for air
but as I wheezed and coughed
I suddenly realized
that though the fog had fled
I'd still eaten a bit of it
with every huffing breath--
yes
I could feel the rasp
of its wet wisps
deep in my lungs.

And so I kept running:
I ran--I ran--I ran until
I'd cleared the field.

In class later that day
the teacher said The Sun
had evaporated that vapor

so if I could feel
the moist ephemeral fabric
burning down to damp ashes
inside me...

then I must be a sun

(albeit a small one).

That logic--
so fanciful
so egotistical--
later provided blessed perspective
for the adult the child became:

yes, I never seemed to catch
those fantasies I chased...

but as I ran here and there
and back again
wasn't I always taking in
that which we call "life"?--

wasn't I always clearing?--

wasn't I always
living as a sun?

© 2017, Michael R. Patton
Searching for My Best Beliefs: a poetry book

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