If You Could Read My Mind

We are all in the gutter

but some of us are looking at the stars.

- Oscar Wilde

 

If you could read my mind

you'd find me on this shore

one foot on the firm white

one foot in saltwater

angling for a great fish

 

to take me with the tide.

Darkness terrifies me

like the tight, closed spaces

cold shells of nothingness

the stench on this dead coast

 

where life washes up, ends

and reminds me I cannot

swim. The moon is half blue.

If you could read my mind

you'd see me on this beach

 

making wings in the sand

my eyes on Betelgeuse

humming that Lightfoot song.

Given half of a chance

I always fly to you.

 

 

 

Author's Note

Among the brightest stars, the ancient Egyptians considered Betelgeuse important; they associated it with the God Osiris, the god of rebirth and the afterlife.” It is one of the most prominent stars in the night sky. Astrologically speaking, Betelgeuse represents success, fame, and influence. (Source: www.wellandgood.com). Here's the Gordon Lightfoot song mentioned in the poem: https://youtu.be/v5tr_L31StI

Reviews

[W. Barrett Munn]

I love Gordon Lightfoot and your poetry, Zeb. Just like a paperback novel, the kind that the drugstore sells.

Winsotn