Forgetting the Flashlight Even after my eyes have adjusted, it is not always possible to pick out the path. Firs seem more massive. Blind— feet trip. Finding the woodpile, I select a log like feeling Braille— Pitch, honey thick, sticks to both hands. Laying the log on the coals, flames take hold— burning the rings, trips around the sun, years lost, somewhere behind us.
Mark Thalman is the author of Stronger Than the Current, The Peasant Dance, and Catching the Limit. His poems have appeared in the Paterson Review, The MacGuffin, Pedestal Magazine, and Valparaiso Review, among many others. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon. Thalman retired from the public schools after teaching English and Creative Writing for 35 years. Besides writing, he enjoys painting landscapes and wildlife art. Please visit markthalman.com.
Amethyst Review 