.................................
Illusions
.................................

Headlights spot
the bobbing white tail of a
brownish rabbit
frantic
to avoid car tires.

A stub-tailed cat walks
across three-and-a-half-foot-high bushes
without falling or sinking.

Stocky boy in baggy jeans,
baseball cap low over sullen eyes,
saunters,
large athletic bag over shoulder.
Next to him in measured step
walks a lithe blond
dressed all in black,
crying softly.
Her bare finger wipes a tear
from one eye.

None of these is happening.
The rabbit is a potato-chip bag
driven by wind.

The cat walks a
snow crust covering
the bushes. One slight jump
will plant him onto the nearby porch railing.
The stocky boy is content;
the girl's tears are of joy.

Events weave together:
Cat stalks potato-chip bag,
which is really a rabbit hiding in
bushes. Rabbit is dressed all in black.
It wipes away one tear with a bare paw.
Girl bounds along beside boy,
waiting to leap up.

.................................
William J. Boerst
.................................

 
Copyright © William J. Boerst
December 1999

...a poem in this room by Jim Rushton...
hopi silver
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