In the Shade

Ever have a long conversation with yourself?
Stroll along wondering where you’re going
and then you come to a quiet place inside you?
All at once.
Like walking into shade.
And you look up and something in the trees
says hush, and you mind yourself to be still.
That’s when I become myself.
No one in particular, just me,
getting along and learning how to breathe.
It only lasts a while and then I start talking.
Arguing with myself and laughing.
Then I go away full like a meal
that fed my soul.
That says everything’s all right.
The way you’re going is all right.
That nothing harms you except yourself,
and that’s only ignorance,
where you find yourself is like the shade
you walked into.
A pause in living,
how you pray in bed,
and listen to the day comport itself to sleep.