Through crowds of crows
Dark eyes met dark
He leaned forward into his gate
Walking from his past
To present
To future
He strode faster eyeing the horizon
Each step carrying him
Somewhere he had never been
Each heel lift releasing
A last hold on his immediate past
Wet pavement or brick or sand
Grass or dirt or stone
His shoes leaving impressions on some
And no trace of his passing on others
Only receiving wear and tear
Friction and abuse from those surfaces
Not one of them
Not even sand or grass offering any renewal
But forward still he walked
Looking back less and less with each stride
Swiftly now
E're time would catch him
Consume him if he stopped
He did not presume to outrun
Or out-walk time
But only to stay ahead
Not let it catch him
Pass him by as he shifted
Side to side
Shuffled
Walking in circles or yet
Afraid to take that next step
He moved
Swiftly through crowds and open spaces
Past homes and offices and down streets
As the crows watched from their perches
Or from the ground as they fought over carrion
He mostly ignored them
Those dark
Black eyes
No soul behind them
Only darkness
That he could not allow to catch him
That darkness
Those crows
He walked from, swiftly
©johnfklee
