Resting Place
In the longer part of the day
Walking along the path In the afternoon I came across an old cemetery It was for me to decide on the Circuitous route around or through The sun was hot and the air was heavy Softly suffocating in the sweltering atmosphere There was no wind or breeze Air still and only the din of cicadas Was my company Beckoning I decided to Go on through cutting across the grounds Then on that hot afternoon My mind began to wander as it always does Thinking and contemplating Moments passed with the headstones As I moved down the gravel through to the center Lichen and moss pointed north On the old stones Ancient inscriptions whispered Indistinguishable words Fading numbers the boundaries of lives As the time chewed these monuments Slowly shredding them Back into the dust Clouds moved islands of shadow Over the ground Sweeping shade and light As a weak gust caressed the sweltering grass Caught out of my daze My skin tightened over my arms With an alien ethereal chill More out of place than a cactus in the snow I looked around That sensation of not feeling alone When you know you should be Crawled up and down my nerves And mistaking the figure For an ancient marble cherubim I did not see him at first Yet scanning the brush line again Started I spotted the pale figure motionless Closing the distance with his gaze Speaking to me without words Planting the notion inside of my mind I was out of place in that cloister Among the mausoleums and crypts The departed and phantasmic memories Of the denizens of that city He told me Now and there was not for me Not yet But soon For all of us Soon It is sooner rather than later Before we find our rest Our lives are a vapor Dew on the dawn grass Gone by mid morning So I hurried on On my way and out of there And as I turned to leave I thought I saw a fleeting glimpse That pale faced specter Gently smiling at me