Stepping Over Epiphanies
By Michael Peter Garofalo
Affecting all the molecules in me
the pull of the moon and sea
feeling the call to walk the shore
Smiled, opened the door
Tides and time sent signals to me
to step nimbly over epiphanies
seen flipped over in the turning sands
Surprised, opened my hands
Waiting for nobody but me
a fleck of cold fire
flung out on this fleck of space
Sang out, loved this place
Shore pines paint a background scene
short stubby crooked trees
swaying gently in the salty breeze
Unruffled, I found tranquility
Stunned by the crisp clean colors
savoring the scents of the sea
enchanted by the incessant singing surf
Awakened, calming reveries
Pointing to the ineffable realization of
insights known to me alone
erupted up from our sensory realities
Profound, not foreknown
Such awakenings come and go
sometimes fast or sometimes slow
unpredictable visions playing peekaboo
Pausing, not thinking too
Slogging up and down the dunes
breathing hard on Que
one step up, a half-step back
Stopping, quite a view
A romantic couple passes me
by on the thin path through sea grass;
we nod, mumble "hello", step aside,
Thinking, will love last
What I see is painted by me
created for free in a brain for me
sucked from the tits of reality
Pondering, reality or illusory
I practiced outside today
the Practice of the Outside Way
I figured a a few things out
Understanding, what Place's say
Tip toeing over bull kelp strands
stepping on broken shells
avoiding the driftwood piles ever moving
Listening, a virtual foghorn knells
A friendly dog off-leash comes to me
seeking a gentle pat and pet
desiring a kind human face to see
Laughing, she was wet
My grand daughter and I once walked
beside an Oregon dune
not very long ago it seemed to us
Remembing, gone too soon
At the Edges of the West: Highway 101
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
Mike Garofalo lives in Vancouver, Washington.
He is
80 years of age and retired. He worked
for 50 years in city and county public
libraries,
and in elementary
schools, colleges, and
bookstores. He graduated with
degrees in
philosophy, library science, and education.
February 8, 2025