I try to walk where there are no others
Step in rhythms of different tempos
Keeping pace with my heart strikes
I quicken when the world is anxious
Slow when the world feels lethargic
I try to walk at exact times
In the cool of mornings
Or out the door at the other end of the day
When the sun is blazing and I can store up
All that vitamin D
I try to walk at more than arm’s length
From the crowds that fill
What they never filled before
Radiating heat and fear and tensioned breaths
Or confined to their own thoughts
while running or pacing the girth of our small world
I try to walk like the Colossus
Bestriding entry to Rhoades
Taking big steps
Consuming territory
Looking out at inner feelings and not much else
I try to walk with tunes playing in my ears
Filling time and singing along
Looking like a crazy man to others sharing space
Hearing nothing but me
Unaware of the rock bands
Backing me up
I try to walk in silence
Ten minutes a day
Focused on the bottoms of my feet and
The macadam in the woods
As I let my brain go out
Reset, re-clear, relax
Till it only nods at errant thoughts
Spinning on light wings
Like swallowtails gliding my backyard
I try to walk and stand egret still
Absorbing the world’s offer-up
Without judgement or sense of limitation
Knowing I cannot walk further afield
As I am COVID confined to familiar only trails
So, I try to walk