THE LAST WORD IN LONESOME

Solitary. Irrelevant. Isolated. Forsaken. God forsaken. A shadow. Obscure. An apparition.  A hallucination. Nothing worse than feeling alone. Well, almost nothing. Right at dusk, walking down a path in the Woods, things come to your mind. Coyotes. Wild dogs. Zombies. Crazed hunters. Chain saw massacres. Run away convicts. Terrorists. Always at night. Under the veil of darkness. The dark breeds fear. Shadows look fierce. Vicious. Savage. Like they are ready to engulf you. Chew you up. Spit you out. Still, I walk at night. Better to face these demons than to let them simmer in the soul. Sometimes I scare myself stupid. Other times I can remain calm. Complacent. At ease. Content. Satisfied with life. Alone with the cedars. The owls. The stars. The nightingale, with its eerie cry.  I venture into this Halloween nightmare not to prove my bravery. Or stupidity. Or anti-social side. Or machoism. Really not to prove anything. I go to walk alone. To feel the solitude. To face the dark side. To arrive home safe. Secure. Ecstatic. Enraptured. Spellbound at the wonder of it all. Shaken just slightly.