Out here in
this frozen,
virgin terrain,
I stand shivering
with a canvas bag
filled with food
I never saw before.
I can’t remember how I got here,
or when I acquired
this throbbing bump
on the crown of my head.
I don’t even have a map
to show me where
my settlement ends
and the next one begins.
There is different ways to be lost... this seems to be one of the worst... there is something in your tone reminding me of Steinbeck...
ReplyDeletethis leaves me wanting more :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds like the beginning of a great adventure, Mosk! The mystery is palpable and drawn us in. Where do we go from here?
ReplyDeleteRiveting.. and yes I too yearn to know more.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully executed.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Will the settlement ever be enough? If there is exclusion and a meaningless exchange, it won't last long.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great hook - one wants to hear the story!
ReplyDeleteThe saddest thing for me in this is that you don't seem to have a coat to protect against the shivering cold.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the opening pages of a crime thriller... a cold, uncaring landscape and a sense of loss... very evocative!
ReplyDeleteThis screams there is more to the story. It is so scary to be lost. Great take on the prompt! Thanks so much for participating!
ReplyDeleteHa - I feel a bit of a story in this one. A bump on the head and perhaps, a bit of vulnerability in the present situation.
ReplyDeletereal sense of being dazed in this poem - evidently still in shock. the last stanza is terrific
ReplyDeleteThe play on words with the title - the whole piece speaks of unsettlement and disquiet. The in between quality invites readers to want to know so much more.
ReplyDeleteYou have conveyed the angst of what it is, sometimes, to find oneself living in the second decade of the 21st century. One of my favourites of yours.
ReplyDeletethis could be taken literally or metaphorically. i like the metaphor of suburbia life...some food, a headache, a city of undecipherable suburbs
ReplyDeleteHow sad. This puts me in mind of my mother with Alzheimer's and how once she was lost and didn't know where she was or how to get home. fortunately she had an id bracelet on and the policeman called us. Very scary, very sad.
ReplyDeleteI love the double meaning in "settlement" here...sometimes a map to the settling of my own heart sure would be nice...
ReplyDeleteToni Spencer said what was on my mind, as well, that peculiar feeling of being present and absent at once. There is more to this story that is told, and I like that very much. Good to read you again, Buddah! Love, Ameleh
ReplyDelete