Once More Into The Breach

He walked up stream during the noon-day rush
Looking down on the walkway he saw
The crumbled receipt sitting on the cold sidewalk
I’ve been fading for years
My cells translucent, my voice a whisper,
I’m a memory in others
Something in the past lodged in some synapse
People look through and past me
No one hears me anymore
They ask me the same questions over and over
I’m no longer part and parcel in my own life
Not yet invisible, just an outline
This is something I did moving into the background
I’ve been slogging through the swamp for...
The muck is pulling at my feet trying to swallow me
The thick black water offers no reflection
It’s dark overhead and the sun seems lost
I’m forcing myself through dense dark underbrush
But I get glimpses of patches of pale light ahead
I fight for steps, one in front of the other
Feeling like the faded ink on the crumbled receipt
He knew he was different
He didn’t need to wait on the wind to move
He could create his own breeze and continue on
As he stepped forward into the fray
Smiling