The Laughing Buddha

By, MLB October, 2, 2005

"Two paths diverged into a wood," and I swear to God, those aren't the same paths I traveled a year ago. Time isn't funny until your memories run dry. My memories have turned to dust, so it's funny...

'Walked seven miles in a day only to meet a night that I had never known. The town at night was a spiral of black and orange tainted images, all flickering in syncopation like an old, silent movie. The night was mocking and rowdy, unlike it's counterpart, the day. White headlights on the backs of bare legs have cruel intentions... But hey, it's all part of the joke.

Laugh if you can, as sorrow is over-rated, like the sneakers that wore out hours ago.

Two steps lead us in the direction of some short cut through the woods off of Davis Drive road, of which none of us had ever used. I discovered that the Davis Drive Park is void of life and color at night.

"... Can't see? Turn on your cell phone."
"... No path? Make one."

Shoes were only a burden.

"Just sling them over your shoulder by their laces and we can use them as weapons to fend off rapists."

Two steps and our bare feet meet the railroad tracks. The three of us were blind. I turned to my right, and shivered as several vines slithered across my numbed feet. I said that I wanted to "leave this place forever." She who was at my right, laughed, embraced the night, and told me to "let it be." I heaved a sigh and drew my hood, and pretended that the blinding, nearing light ahead of us was a thing of the past.

Breathe if you can, as air might decide to call in sick the next day, and you just might lose your job tomorrow.