Coming Up For Air

my feet trod the earthen street
between the dust of history
and the despair of my soul
where i contemplate

a drowning man

and how if his head is three
feet under water what does
another foot matter

the ages and angst give way
under my step as i move toward
the marketplace and the final
resolution of the moment

inside my shirt i gently caress
the button and feel as much as watch
the world disappear
into the shards of glass and rubble
that dance in the light
with the slumping bodies
i picture in my mind

all starts to fade

the myth of a man ends
where the darkness begins