Almost

By Cliff Lake

 

Almost 

 

When the dark descends,

And he can blend in,

That’s when you’ll find him wanderin’.

Just slightly off-pace,

One step out of place,

He’s okay, he’s just wanderin’.

 

He’s not quite fashionable,

Or following trends,

He has his ways,

And he doesn’t unbend.

He listens a lot,

And tells less than he knows.

A friend and a stranger,

Both more and less than you suppose.

 

When the dark descends,

And he can blend in,

That’s when you’ll find him wanderin’.

Just slightly off-pace,

One step out of place,

He’s okay, he’s just wanderin’.

 

Who is this wanderin’ in?

He was here and gone.

A face from another when,

Who wandered in, then on.

Someone that you almost touched,

But slipped away like mist.

A faded memory,

That somehow still persists.

 

When the dark descends,

And he can blend in,

That’s when you’ll find him wanderin’.

Just slightly off-pace,

One step out of place,

He’s okay, he’s just wanderin’.

 

He shows again some while,

A shadow out of years,

Bringing remembrance of almost,

And not quite wasted tears.

There again the fleeting point,

Still the shadow that you knew,

A nod, a smile, and then goodbye,

Watch him passing through.

 

When the dark descends,

And he can blend in,

That’s when you’ll find him wanderin’.

Just slightly off-pace,

One step out of place,

He’s okay, he’s just wanderin’.

 

Cliff Lake 4/27/2024

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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