By Mark A. Leon

All these songs play repeat in my mind

Miles of roads I continue to leave behind

Promises of love scattered like ashes by the fire of those passionate nights of love for hire

The skies getting deeper

Thoughts even weaker

The gas tanks running low and this wallet ain’t got no flow

I’m so thirty and this rivers run dry

An abyss; a desert; a broken down body crying tears into the remains of an expired warranty

On the side of the road sits the spirit of wisdom

Long grey beard, balance rod and the secret grin

Hidden behind those dry lips and broken teeth, the meaning of it all

I want to feel the fire again so I stop

Silenced by the deafening emptiness in the air

He stares me down top to bottom lurking like an invader on my core of my skin

I am paralyzed

Feeling only alive by the push of the wind on my back

I wait

And wait

An eternity passing

The sage body of bones and frail skin rises putting one hand on my forehead and smiling to then return to the Earth

Then in a moment of translucent clarity it happened

The clouds parted

Rained dried in mid sky

Laughter took over sadness

The sun awakened my senses and warmed this lonely heart