A Question in the Forest

author’s note:

I like asking myself questions.

Even when I don’t find any answers.


A QUESTION IN THE FOREST

Afternoon sunlight
touches a thread a spider made
and suddenly I see
a thin prism gleaming
between two tree limbs.

But in the next moment
that rainbow disappears.
I shift about, trying to catch
the image again.
But straining only frustrates.

So I return
to the dreams in my head
and continue my woods walk
in comfortable blindness

until another beauty
shocks me awake:

a gold Maple leaf curled on the path:

what fires the eye fires the heart.

But soon a shadow dims the sight--
looking up, I find
an orange Autumn cloud.

This odd question then comes to me:

“Am I alone?”

Answered by a feeling that says:

Yes, you are

but no, you’re really not.

What I Learned While Alone: poetry ebook
© 2021, Michael R. Patton