Sometimes my mind goes running away from me
like a dog goes after a ball
that was never thrown
-after an arm was extended in that ever-so-familiar motion
and minutes seem hours before realizing that thing being searched for was never out there at all

Sometimes...
a spare twig is found to occupy time
it might be white and smell like childhood
-eucalyptus towers in the back yard
trees I could never climb, but that always brought me higher

Sometimes I skid nose-deep into the dirt
barely missing a wall
just to find earth-worms caressing the caverns of my nose
when, for a mere second before I'm overcome by the preconditioned thought:
"this is gross"
I provide shelter, when at first
I was the one searching

and in all this moments' unfamiliarity
it was something we all knew

Despite how I landed face-down in the dirt
knowledge was: this is something we both needed