What I Saw in the Woods

There was a figure in the woods

or maybe just a shape, a shadow.

it stood so still as though it knew

I saw it seeing, seeking, surveilling me.

My brain spun fast—was I in danger of

becoming food for someone’s supper?

A bear lay there perhaps?, I thought,

A lion? Or a man?

Something huge,

something hungry,

something dangerous,

something quite ferocious!

My heart became alarmed, engaged, enraged,

counting down the seconds

for my fight or flight response

until I left and ran as fast as I could run,

breath breaking,

back bracing,

feet racing,

heart pounding.

I made it home

and slammed the door,

but the pounding and the racing

and the pacing didn’t stop.

Like Edgar Allen Poe has told--

tell-tale hearts give plots away,

unlocking secrets of the soul,

unmasking heaviness in the heart.

So too was I not chased by claws or eyes

Or villain -- but chased by fear within

projected out -- a trick the brain

plays with the mind, alerting it to danger.

The next day, I went back with policemen by my side.

The woods were empty --

no man, no creature, no figure,

no bear, no lion, no stalker.

The things I saw that scary night

were ones I brought with me,

perceptions from my brain

projected to the woods.