Pulvis

Pulvis

I lie in the shadows of deepest night.
I melt into darkness still and silent.
Quietly, skillfully, hide from your sight,
While tracing your paths with dogged intent.
I blithely follow wherever you roam.
I dance in the turbulence of your wake.
I see you go out and trace your steps home,
Except for the parts of me that you take.
I touch all your trinkets and your treasure;
My blanket covers your undisturbed things.
Mostly, I'm just you, measure for measure,
And I fly around as if I had wings.
I get on your hands, your elbows, your knees,
And climb up your nose to make you sneeze.

Mick McKellar
June 2016

"Pulvis et umbra sumus. (We are but dust and shadow.)”
― Horace, The Odes of Horace
(Pulvis is dust, of course...)
Mick