Aphelion Issue 292, Volume 28
March 2024
 
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The Traveler

by Joseph St. John


Running through the atmosphere, lost, tired and bewildered,
the traveler moves to another time.
Pulling aimlessly at his memory, he stands alone and lonely,
watching the stars and moon fall around him.

His ship filters his reality and buffers his soul from the elements
that wreck his stranded heart.
Space and trace of stratosphere, never coming up for light,
darkness is the question and answer of the day.

Calm, steady, magnified, he stakes his claim into
the neon sunlight of forgiveness.
Tidal waves of expectation sear his deliverance;
sear his pleasure sensors.

Arranger, time tested troubadour,
never once asking why or how.
Plainly, softly, a true mental morning
held in a sea of timelessness.

Color unto the sunrise-
the time is quick and strong.
The wings of the craft sail through the soft flow of space,
through a world unknown.

The traveler is set to greet the great awakening.
He sees the breath of the virgin world.
He lands gently in the fields of green meadows.
He steps from the craft and breathes the air of a new dawn.

He is the Cosmic Adam.
Standing before the new world.
The horizons of forever stare back at him.
Gentle brow tilts towards the sun.

Are others out there?


© 1999 Joseph St. John

Find more by Joseph St. John in the Author Index.

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