The Walk Back Alone

The Walk Back Alone

this poem completes the diptych, “A Stranger at Sunset” being the first panel …

the streetlamp stands tall,
a lighthouse guiding my footsteps back —
heartbeats pound my chest:
a rhythmic sound like horse-hooves,
from the tall grasses crickets chirp
out of tempo,
tonight I am bewildered
by this strange evening music —

at the dormitory
I pace the yellow tiled floor,
from a distance
young ladies sit at study tables
with their tea and textbooks —

the night deepens,
I tremble like a leaf in the wind,
gravity forsakes me,
I walk with the stars
light years away,
I am lost in a place
no map can locate —

after restless sleep
another day blossoms in the sky:
a seed within me
stirs from its slumber
awakened
by the stranger at sunset.

D. G. Vachal © 2025

Image by J. Plenio @pixabay

4 thoughts on “The Walk Back Alone”

  2. ‘I walk with the stars

    light years away,

    I am lost in a place

    no map can locate —”

    Just a gorgeous and fantastic image in a poem that is wonderful from to start to finish. An image that particularly strikes me. I have always been fascinated by light years. 🤩Ellen

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