October

There will be a time

A time several years from today, when

walking by a path you'd never traced,

you shall suddenly stop. Stop and wonder.

Wonder as you inhale the wild sweetness

of orphaned greens. Warm and veiled,

they shall stand in your way. 

Radiant shrubs teasing your vision until

your eyes begin to drown ..

in a sea of endless lilacs.

Scarlet flames shall play with your hair.

Honeyed petals..

You will almost hear their wanton laughter

as they graze past your sunburnt face.

And then you shall spot the tiny daisy.

Somewhere behind the towering elms

a speck of yellow will grab your heart.

It will remind you

The path is not new. Not unknown to you.

You've been treading on it every day.

There will be a time when all of this will happen.

A sudden surge of recognition. Floodgates will open.

You will bend down. Rest your ears on the ground.

Rub your nose against the grass. Your lips shall pucker ..

with ancient hunger. You will crouch to kiss the defiant daisy.

And you shall find it shrinking. Away from you.

Wild grasses shall spit cold waves of disgust.

The forest will grey out right then right there.

The warm scent shall turn putrid too.

And then on that morning..several years from now..

you shall understand

what years of lovelessness can do

to the gentlest of beings.

Yes. You'll understand.

There will be a time like that.

Not now. Not today,

when squatting stupefied on that winding road..

you shall finally fathom

the magnitude of loss. The colossal waste.

No one will stop by to offer you solace.

There will be a time like that.

And you'll be just another mad man lying on a dirty trail.

The world won't look twice. When the moment arrives.