Have you ever
missed the last train?
Felt that flat feeling
in the pit of your soul
knowing
that you’re not getting home?
The creeping fingers of despair?
The wild shock of adrenalin,
when your mind realizes
that you are out here,
alone,
and exposed
and no one is coming to save you.
Is there anything there?
Some small bit of courage?
Perhaps a fragment
of a former self
that you tried to kill
with booze,
and dope
and mindless work,
that still refuses to die?
That might be the part of you
that saves you.
That might be
the part of you
that looks down those empty tracks
and knows that the next train
is not until morning,
but there is a bus station
five miles away.
Through Junkie-Ville,
and Murder-Town.
Determination
replaces fear.
The water in your legs
turns to iron
and you could walk
a hundred miles,
if you had to.
Through the things
and places that you feared,
it turns out
your mind
is the Devil,
creating Hell before you.
The cracked and decrepit buildings
are just stone.
The dark of night,
conceals you,
as well as the demons you fear.
The cloak of anonymity
as you stalk your way
through the night
reveals to you
that you
could also be
a dangerous creature,
if only you so chose.
Up ahead,
the light of the bus station.
Buzzing, yellowish light
paints the way to salvation.
Feet sore
and legs tired,
you sit,
waiting for the next bus to arrive
and look out beyond
this new oasis
into the darkness
that you now claim
as part of your kingdom.
Soon,
the bus pulls up
and takes you home,
but part of you
will always be
a creature
stalking the city streets.
You will remember
the day
you became
unafraid.
HG – 2021