The Gravel Trail

 

 

On a trail

Early in the morning

I kept my pace steady

To hear

The gravel slide

Under

Each shuffle

 

A prairie dog

Came out of a hole

Whined and hissed

And that

Sounded

Like a name

I once knew

 

I kept my pace

To rhyme with

The moment

All gravel

And

Dust

 

Then I thought of

A poem

I would scribble

About

That name

When prairie dog’s chirps

And squeaks

Get lost

In the morning 

Dew

 

… When I wrote

The name

I once knew

I put my pencil

Back in my bag

 

For it that name alone

Was the poem

Untitled

Yet visiting

From times

When the paths I walked

Were of concrete

No gravel

No promises

And no 

Pledges

 

I recited

That name

Again

 

And my walk changed

Into a secret

Dance

 

June 14, 2026

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2026