putting one foot in front of the other

i am in two minds

                               i said to the walk

                                to that contained distance

                                 that known time

so passer-by

shut me out

                     please

have the grace

to mistake me for an absence

my footsteps have worn

                                           this tarmac

                                            this gravel

                                             this grass

my paces have moulded this earth

this earth this grass this gravel this tarmac

in going out

                     in returning

this walk is plain

                             unadorned

stripping me to live another day

                                                        without cold compress

                                                          without opiate

                                                           without forgetting

I am peeled back to single mind

                                                                                                                                     Ted Eames, 2019

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