Thom Garzone

Endless Summer Mentality

In my mind’s prison cell delusions fill its space.

I struggle to sleep at night, contending with the

facade of my existence.

Peace is sparse and I am unable to flee

the fires of the summer, a burning hell

among fears I face.

I want to free myself of my responsibilities,

to ride along Idaho’s riverbanks, letting winds

flow against my body.

Promises I give myself, academia at my feet, success bleeding

from words are weak branches of my being as I pass

through these lengthened seasons, these snapshots of time.

Shadows of Light

Understanding and its long, dusty road,

meanings, forgotten stones under the sun.

Why has this path led me here?

Summer leaves guide me

to visions crowded with limbs, colorful landscapes

broken in odes of time.

I lie beneath the shadows of trees

revolving with tension, yet drift downward

to comprehend these peaceful inner waves.

Solo Trek in June

A highway opens, barren, free, but useful

Time inherits me, Idaho’s son

driving east on I-84

listening only to the silence of my soul

watching desert’s bugs splatter against my windshield

I pass one town where once taking refuge

it had towered upon a delivered height,

and I recall when it led to crags braced before

an earthly yet heavenly domain

Below me, the meandering Snake River

follows my brain with its release

Horses, mules, bulls, goats, and the

landscape that flows with crops

moors me to its power

Nature brings me to my destination

as I slow down for towns & their low speed limits

till then I find the oasis sunken

in a wondrous glow of horizon’s end I seek