Artifaction
His early days are so far gone that few
recall just what a troublemaking teen
became this hard and steady man. They view
him only now, see only new routines.
Their iron expectations leave no doors
for his escape. The past once nurtured him,
now he discards it. Blindly, Mike ignores
once valued parts, his wildness and his whim.
Abandoning the layers of his past
but rooted in them, he is a little more
concealed each day, a hidden remnant cast
from fossilized bones of doubted lore.
His new friends see no change, perceive no fall.
And Mike, now solid, does not see at all.
Herb Kauderer is an associate professor of English at Hilbert College, and is the author of about a thousand poems including eight chapbooks, some of which are available at: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/search?query=kauderer