The Freemason's Grave

an experience I had hiking

7.3 miles from the parking lot

around noon

I leave the temporal world

another change in lighting and undergrowth

deeply shaded this time, and vividly green

it occurs to me that I could

break my leg or something

and I would be left alone

I tell myself not to be afraid

I am afraid

I stop for a second to listen

the air is still, the trees are still

and there, growing up from the ferns,

is the Freemason’s Grave

the engraved lettering bleeds

dark lichen or dirt

the proof of a million rains

some Civil War era name

pleasantly forgettable

tells me something close to nothing

about who this man was

but I give him the benefit of the doubt

I find him a coneflower

one of the last of the season

and solemnly, gently

I lay a fresh offering

on the Freemason’s Grave

as I lift my pack again

I am not afraid

the forest would never hurt a boy

who has reduced its burden

of forgotten graves

by one

Reviews

[Ethan Jobalia]

Very beautiful, I felt like I could really see the imagery and feel the atmosphere