packing paper
newspaper
boxes of free stuff
bubbled plastic wrapping
and dropped books
dog-eared pages
chapters half-read
forgotten book-marks
enough said
enough read

all picked up
straightened
neatly wrapped and placed in a box and taped closed

for the next box
a note fell

slowly, hesitant at first
he picked it up
reading it
recalling
and what then befell
he thought, no
he shouldn’t let his mind dwell

instead he thought of a dream he had
he made laps
walking, climbing
on the last and 4th lap
he realized and wondered why
then sudden fear
as someone walked by
or came too close
as if they would cause him to fall

then he imagined his fall
the free fall through the air would be fine until the impact
he thought of landing on his back
he thought of the pain
he thought of the recovery

he pulled himself up
over the edge
he sees someone he knew from his past
who commented as he struggled
to pull himself up to stand

he looks around

he never imagined it actually looked like this

- stars in crayon brights, painted over with black/blue water color
- ships in rivers, almost graffiti-esque
- people as small etchings peer out
or are silhouettes in apartment windows or passing vehicles

“uneven lines or imperfect squares,” he says of the city in the distance.
the someone he knew nods

this morning
when he awoke
it was 7:44 am
he made some coffee
found a box
and got back to packing

the note which he found
he neatly folded and returned to it’s envelope

he then closes his eyes

and dreams again
this time of a lake
with colors of red, purple, yellow and hints of blue

under the pallette of the setting sun
he understands how little he knew