I had a moment

while looking up at the moon

parsing the night sky

obliterating the stars

that the steps I sat on

werent there

that the place behind me I called home

wasnt there

and I too

was immaterial

it didnt frighten me

since Vietnam I was long past being frightened by anything

I found the sensation odd

perhaps in a word

otherworldly

I felt like a note

rarely plucked on a harp string

sensitive to the vibrations around it

the scale ascended  

then descended away from it

keen it wasnt going to be played

it was grateful

to be honed in place

then I was returned

I could feel my knee through my pantleg

with my fingers

from where I sat

beneath this hilltop

there was a pale colored shimmering

it erased the street

the houses along it

the cars the curbs

the dogs their barks

the stealthy nocturnal cats

the brush and rosemary and digger pines remained

thin coyotes yipped

deer flanks twitched

the distant infernal hum

of traffic on the 101

desisted

then electrical lights dotted to the horizon

disappeared

an inky blackness oozed

for as far as my eyes could see

in every direction

it didnt frighten me

I was long past being frightened by anything since Vietnam

0042,  Saturday,  14  9. 13