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Traveling the Rim Alone

by Michal John

In my speeding four-wheel drive I am

Whirled away in an ever upward spiral-fleeing from

Pressures spawned in the valley below.

The higher I climb up on the rim the freer I become.

Like scales dropping from a horrid dragon, I am

Revealed, a soaring feathered bird in liberated flight.

A huge blunt yellow orb, apparition-like-appears.

Just above the tree line; massive, devouring.

Yet, like a hungry owl spotting its prey,

I try to devour Him. First wtih my eyes and

Then with my Soul but he disappears as

I dip into a turn, my heart aching at the loss.

Then, like a seductive lover, only giving glances,

Playing coy, mercilessly teasing me,

The heightening ball, bigger, then smaller,

More yellow, then white, dodges behind ridges

And peaks through heavy black green pines,

Beckoning me to stop, dally...play.

But the truck races on,

Too proud to stop, afraid of others,

Still aching with desire

I gasp with each new sighting

My heart beating harder with anticipation at every turn.

Whispering, "Will I see him again?"

At the top of the summit, like two lovers meeting,

We gaze at each other

Without obstacle, unrestricted.

But he has somehow changed.

Where is the familiar face I am prone to view?

Is this a first time seeing, have I been fooled?

Quizically glancing in disbelief I discover

A gray black cloud, in an otherwise cloudless sky,

Made of him a foreign face in the deep

Blue, blackening sky. The wind gently brushes aside

His mask as He rises higher and brighter in the

Diminishing earthlight. He silently marks my path.

The forest smells of fresh rain, early, alive.

My hair whips about my cheeks,

Lips, and neck-wild caresses,

The distant clouds explode with light.

I, like Leda*, have been seduced by a God in disguise.

She by a swan and I by the moon.

*Leda and the Swan, a poem by W.B. Yates. In Greek mythology Leda, seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan, produces important mythological children, Helen of Troy being one of them.