red-eyed observations....red lake, mn

written when i was 17

white and powdery

like the candy up my nose

brother moon lights up the night

reflecting his blue melancholy glow

across the fallen timbers of birch

fog drifts from my lips

without the aid of nicotine

i am the alpha male

in my own pack

huddled about me

the harem

we all are lost

without the chemical aids

herbal medicinal crutches

what is left but carnal thoughts

out here

amongst the wild things

that live in the dark

everything is primal

communication is non-verbal

wolves scamper about

some humping each other

friction and fur

warmth of closeness

owls watch and learn

there are deer about

crunching the snow beneath

pulling the layers of ancient bark

for nourishment

i'm just a city kid

fantasizing

wishing for one more line

or just one f**k

or to be free

like the lives around me

this place

lake lost

bordering country, state, dimension

free to walk without these shoes

barefoot and wild...

Author's Note

i wrote this in 1987, i was in a drug rehab program where we were set in the middle of the wilderness and taught how to survive in the winter. i was the only male, minus the camp guide, in a group of 9 chemically dependant adolescents. you can imagine what that was like for a recovering, hormone riddled, teenage boy....

Reviews

[sirenribbon@thehptshirt..]

Definitely wrote from a place on the edge, maybe the space between... I had a lot of friends that went to similar "type" places. There was always stories about the dynamic of the groups of young men. I love this because it really brings me back to my on youth when my friends and I felt the weight of the world. Very interesting from a female point of view..

[Ashesh]

You must have been quite a busy alpha male. haha..
Again brother! this poem is amazing; I loved the scene you described here. And when you said
"i'm just a city kid
fantasizing
wishing for one more line
or just one f**k
or to be free"
...it went straight to the core.

[Michael of Gilead]

hmmmmm, well since you explained the circumstances then it does tell a story...i thought you were going in a different direction with the first few lines

[Jas Alejandrino Ramos]

nice observation you had.....i like this:) it's bec. of the naturalistic description and subject in this poem

[Wildfleour]

It still speaks powerfully to that moment or any moment one would find themselves wanted to be barefoot and free.

I can't believe they would have co-ed rehab for teens. Even without trying to kick drugs, that would be too much of a temptation for anyone. Well, at least it made for a helluva poem.

[Crinkle°]

olala... happy that there is still a pen not far from you.

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

break on through . . . .

[Jonathan De Elvira]

SICK!!!!!.........I'm glad I was alone when I was quitting heroine...If I was in your shoes back there...I might....whooops!!!! I don't wanna tell...

[Robin]

"free to walk without these shoes" great pentultimate thought ..