ALAN CATLIN

Fog

We hadn’t known a fog
could be all consuming

that long familiar paths
we’d walked a thousand times
could be as treacherous as
a minefield

as an obstacle course
with immovable objects in it
or a hedge maze there
was no known solution to

Walking out, we were lost
in no time, were separated
by impenetrable mists no light
could penetrate

We called out to each other
but our voices were muffled,
were inaudible as segments
in a dream we wouldn’t remember
once we woke up

***

Clouds

After a week of rain
the clouds fit into sky
like plaster death mask molds

the wind transforms
changing their shapes until
a panoramic sky is
a museum of dead faces
crying out in pain

If we were still looking
for answers from the heavens
we now know that none
will be found

Alan Catlin has two the final two books of his Carpe Diem night life trilogy of books scheduled for 2023: Another Saturday Night in Jukebox Hell (Roadside Books) and Last Call for Lazarus (Impspired Press).