The Bison We Didn't See

A Poem About Nearly Missed Chances

Out in the Canadian summer
We drove like cattle
Kilometers inching closer to the North Pole
The whole world dissolving behind
The stillness of everything making its presence known
We were out looking for bison
You told me you did this with your daughters
We scoured the moonless land like hungry animals
Searching for signs of life
I remembered that I had to leave again
We took our time
Pushing out tomorrow as far as it would go
Then, a noise:
Hulks hidden in tall grass
Creatio ex nihilo
Shadow emerging from shadow
Fur like midnight, moving
All the grass beginning to breathe
And the scales fell from our eyes
And we beheld what had been waiting for us
Soon I would kiss your teary eyelids
And we would breathe our last
For a while
I would board that plane that knew nothing of this field
And remember our slow drive home
When I looked at you and knew
We were the only ones on the road that night.

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© 2024 Jeff Goins
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104
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