Elizabeth Ayres: "The Road of Unforgetting"

At dawn these still waters were filled with clamoring gulls.

Now, in morning’s languid light, just the

harsh contralto of a journeying crow, the

muted bass and treble

of waves from a passing boat’s wake. Tall pines

on the opposite shore cast long, green reflections

onto the motionless river, making (you think)

a long, green road boasting

many unmarked entrances and exits, many

signs in strange languages you almost

remember, many

vaguely familiar landmarks and

fleeting faces almost

recognizable as beloved.

Some say go out into the desert to find your god.

Some say go up into the mountains. No such voices here,

on the long, green road of unforgetting, just the

muted bass and treble of your own footsteps, just that

other that

other

that other almost

song.



"The Road of Unforgetting" by Elizabeth Ayres. © Elizabeth Ayres. Presented here by poet submission. Elizabeth Ayres is the author of four books and the founder of the Elizabeth Ayres Center for Creative Writing, which specializes in aspiring writers. "The Road of Unforgetting" is from a work-in-progress entitled Azimuth of God: poems of absence and presence.

Art credit: "Pine Flatwoods" at Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Florida, USA), image by unknown photographer.