It didn’t even feel weird
When I walked out of the ground and stood erect on my feet.
Or so I told myself.
I had forgotten the sound of cars;
The feeling of rain; the color of grass.
Families with children in little red rain boots
Stood huddled together under umbrellas,
Wearing all black,
Saying prayers over the ground.
I don’t know if anyone did that for me.

I wondered how long I’d been down there.
I wondered if I was dead.
I wave my hands and shout a few words,
No one raises their heads.
I must be a ghost,
Or maybe a lost soul
Trapped between the worlds of life and death.
It’s possible.

I think it’s been a while since I’ve walked through a park.
Past the cemetery is a wide open grassy area.
It’s raining;
The park is empty.
As I walk along the sidewalks,
I seem to be going in no particular direction;
But somehow I feel as though I’m leading myself somewhere.

A couple more minutes of silence and a thought occurs.
Who am I?
I can’t think of my name, where I live;
I don’t recognize the park or the city beyond it.
I must be a ghost.
I feel as though I’m floating over the ground now;
If I wanted to I could fly up, up…
But something holds me down.
Memories?
No. Something else keeps me grounded.
Mystery.

I’m on a busy sidewalk downtown.
Yellow taxis fly by me on the street.
People walk right past me, sometimes into me;
I try desperately to catch someone’s eye;
I try in vain.

Is there no hope?
This wandering soul, left in an unknown place-
An invisible creature with no past or present
And no future.
Pulling, pulling me back.
The ground beckons to me.
I try to fly and this time nothing holds me down.
I’m flying over rooftops, trees;
Suddenly I am standing over the grave.
There’s a name, engraved in the stone.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

It’s getting dark; my time ends.
The crickets chirp as I lower myself into the ground.
Darkness.
When I close my eyes, I feel peace.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll walk again-
Search through an unknown city
Only to find a name on a stone.
It’s possible.