That Was That

That was That

By: Doug Gealy


I was walking down an open path just outside the city
Far enough to see the tall buildings reach for atmosphere
Far enough not to hear them moan

I was walking down an open path just outside the city
Whistling in harmony to a beautiful score written by mother-nature herself
A song sang aloud by every color of bird

The blue jay’s blue
The cardinal’s red
The pigeon’s white as the melting snow

The humming birds slow to flap and hum in rhythm
The sparrows spare their prey this day
The hawks and eagles do the same

Even the Owls remain awake to participate 

What a wonderful day
What a wonderful chorus
What a warm spring day to be blessed with in an otherwise frigid winter

I was walking down an open path just outside the city
Far enough to see the tall buildings reach for atmosphere
Far enough not to hear them moan

I was walking down an open path just outside the city
Whistling in harmony to a beautiful score written by mother-nature herself

I was walking down an open path just outside the city
Until I wasn’t

Where I wasn’t was certain
Where I was, unknown

My feet stuck to what I could only assume to be the ground

There is no sky in a place like this

I was so shocked
So abruptly misplaced
I found myself breathing through my ears

My eyes fell to darkness
While a slideshow of past, forgotten, and vaguely familiar images,
Play rapidly
In a vivid display of dreamscape
The far away worlds once ventured
Flash within my hostage mind

I am awake
At least, I think I am

If I could speak
I would certainly ask to be pinched or punched, but
I couldn’t

So I didn’t

So that was that

For now
For then

I couldn’t
I didn’t
I can’t and I won’t
Neither here nor there understand, this unknown circumstance

So that was, is, and always will be that
And this will always remember that
But that is this and this is that
A rumor of mystery locked away in secrecy

What ever that may be

So that was that
As the world returned to me
I remember that….that something wonderful had returned to me
Wiping my mouth with my hands as if to brush away a crumb

I sing
I hum
Walking down an open path just outside the city
Far enough to see the tall buildings reach for atmosphere
Far enough not to hear them moan



Smiling warmly thinking, “So that was that”
Not thinking once or twice, about what “that” may mean to me

So after all of that, that was that after all