ESCAPE ARTIST
The sea surrounds me,
Deep, dark, and cold,
So black.
Blending into the starless sky.
I drift in silence, alone and calm,
After the scrape of keel on stone.
Then suddenly
A piteous plea,
A sound from someone else, not me,
Encircling the sea
Aching to be found.
Yes, another
Must have tumbled to the sea, since
My heart floats tranquilly,
Assured of solid ground.
Worse fates have I escaped,
Darker seas of despair,
Shocks from nowhere,
Jolts from an electric chair,
A back turned in anger and then …
Indifference.
Waves of condemnation roll away from me,
Leaving only echoes of ignorance.
Eluding consequences by bending fences,
Separating mind from senses,
Skirting defenses
Became my expertise.
The hero fights
While the escape artist flees.
The hero dies on a bloody field
While the escape artist’s fate
Is never sealed.
A mere trick of the mind
Serves me better than any
Armament I can find,
So I leave the deep, dark sea behind,
Against my back the cold, hard brick,
An audience of double-parked cars
And sidewalk soles
Await my next trick.
(Photo by author)
