No Name

In the middle of a cold December

He tried to remember 

     His name

But every time he thought he had it

    It slipped out his skull

Like smoke

   He could see it

But when he tried to grab it

   It faded away

With no name

   But a body

He was sure he was somebody

    He just didn’t know who

He had to be somebody

     Whenever he imagined what he was

A firefighter

   A pilot

A lawyer

   A teacher

His stomach sank

    With no money in the bank

And holes in his shoes

   He was lost

Lost without a name

   A zombie without an identity 

A dream

   Of another life

Haunts him at night

   A life where he wasn’t afraid of the fight

But whenever he woke in the morning

    He couldn’t remember the dream

He didn’t know what his life means

    He sucked in air

And walked forward

   He ate food

And slept a lot

   He got a job

But it ate his seconds

   And he thought that our seconds probably shouldn’t be wasted

Not even for money

  Or for fame

No

   All someone needs

Is a name

   And a direction

A motivation 

   One that is pure

We don’t need greed disguised as passion

   He knew a few of life’s lessons

He saw other people's blessings

    But with no name stapled to his soul

Everything felt unknown

   Every moment

He felt alone

   Every ache

Was for a home

    With no name

He grew old

    Simply rolling through life

Like a stone

   The man with no name

Tried to remember

  Who he was

But it was too cold

   And December

Never came to an end

    So created an image of who he wanted to be

And played pretend.

CH 1/25/25