Poetry and Art- A Footprint of Inspiration
An eagle and a jet airliner cross paths in front of my windshield in a perfect line
As Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” plays over my stereo.
What does it mean? Not a damned thing!
But thank God, I had the foresight to write down the inspiration.
God? I ponder that mystery as the violin solo vibrates through my truck tires,
Echoing through the asphalt waking ghosts of those that have walked this path before.
The primitive man who witnessed an eagle flying across his path.
No jet airliner, no electric guitar and violin carried over radio waves,
But thank God he had the foresight to memorize the moment.
God? I wonder if that was a cause for reflection while he wandered
Etching the vision into his mind where later that night
As he sat by a fire he scuffed a nearby stone with the charred end of a stick
And produced a mark that reminded him of the great bird.
So with this inspiration he drew from his memory the picture
And with the burned stick reached toward the wall next to him
Where he scrawled the form from his mind into a visible semblance
Which he studied throughout the night and dreamed with mind sparked
Until the morning light found him running with his stick while scanning the heavens
But halted when instead of finding a great bird he came upon a beautiful woman
Who knelt at the edge of the path scooping water from a brook into her hands to drink
While gazing up at him with curious expression toward his charred branch
Causing him to kneel in search of a stone but finding none.
So with no other surface offered for his inspiration he stuck the point in the dirt
And began a portrait of the woman who would become his mate
While overhead an eagle sang as a mountain gust blew dust in the wind
Which finally trickled off into the distant air.
My song ends and I am forced to slow to a stop for the man standing in the road
Is recording something into the pavement with a stick.
He looks up and our eyes meet through the glare of my windshield
What does it mean? Not a damn thing!
But at least we had the foresight to write it down
So that the next visitor that comes upon this trail will see our footprints
And know we were here.
