"Casual Witness"

picture this: it is early morning,
south of somewhere familiar,
south of somewhere
you call home.

there are power lines
running down dirt roads
where dust never seems
to settle unless it rains.

there are grey birds
flying skyward,
towards destinations
you will never reach.

and you are there,
driving alone in a car,
a casual witness to this
which you’ll never
understand…

but you are not there.
you are here with me,
with these words on
this page. and we have
only each other, and
the oncoming autumn.

Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. His poems have been printed widely in journals, zines, and online publications all over the world.  He is the author of twenty-four chapbooks and several collections of poetry, including Cleaning The Gutters of Hell (Zeitgeist PressPress, 2023).  He is the editor of Between Shadows Press.