"Footsteps We Leave Behind"

Chandler Ryd

Footsteps bring us close.
“Breathe aggressive clouds into the space before our lips
while a slop of mud slows us down:”
(my glasses fog—
I’m cold out here)
“Slower, but over our shoulders
We can see the meteor footprint because
We were there.
We were there,”
(but I am here)
“Through the pit and valley but stronger!”
(but tripping?)
“From the mark in the mud,
Marking time only kills the flowers beneath our feet.”
(how does it make me less of a man?)
“He would step forward,”
(walk for walk)
“But do we see the trees, towering and with such spirit?”
(I only see them leaning over)
“Our land is not here.”
(but I am here and cold)
“So we step forward.”
(is it really stronger?)
“—Is that a dare?”
(I watch them grow)
“Walk, woe”
(to he who stops, but
does it abolish me in the sound of)
“Come and go,”
Do I know—
Do I know.
(               ?)

Image Source:
Blythe. "Footsteps in the Mud." Flickr. Yahoo!, 4 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/daysofdream/5527807041/>.

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