EVENT HORIZON


In this timeline
you may appear randomly
an errant quark an electron
lost in quantum space
weaving through the reality
of one small town after another or
this small town

somewhere
out of a million skies
to pick this one
as if you had any control
over any of it any way

cresting the horizon
of that last hill
met with the same sameness of color
the brown hills the fogged landscapes
the ubiquitous crows
the skeletal stark black locusts
always the gray you recall
only the blues have changed
the row of finger lakes
startled by the occasional sun

eventually you return
to a place you never intended
with or without
all your faculties
your stories rushing ahead
to greet you
or shadows you trail like wakes
and following suit
you remember
events that didn't occur

the past
is a collapsing star
you shrink
from the crush of it