Phantom

by Len Krisak (February 2013)

Out walking at that time of morning when

The dawn has barely slipped away from night,

I spot a ghost go gliding through the light,

But upright, stiff, upstanding. No good guess

Available, I stumble on . . . not zen,

Bunraku maybe? Or some spectre, white,

Erect, and surely off the mist-veiled ground

That turns the weightless feet of figures foggy.

He seems ascendant in my line of sight,

And up the hill ahead, without a sound,

How could a climb so fast and effortless

Be anything but . . . now I see it. Yes!

No genie breasting a hill would have to lean

Reveals that what till now has strangely thwarted

My earth-bound vision is no visitation

By angels, or some wraith-like apparition,

But one lone Segway. Now, in this transition,

University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010

To comment on this poem, please click here.

here.

If you have enjoyed this poem and want to read more by Len Krisak, please click here.