Shouting Match
A man
I think it was a man
Was on the sidewalk somewhere
Outside, screaming about something
Early this morning
It might have been about the
Lord
Who will give him understanding
It’s quiet now; I saw no flashes from
Police cars
There is a religious group next door
Maybe some of that group came out to
Attend to him
Maybe not
Maybe they called on everyone’s behalf
There has been silence for a while
I could have been
In a city where
Such happenings are commonplace
But it was here in the center of
Our borough, small Mechanicsburg
Not Queens or Brooklyn
Nowhere near Manhattan
Not even Harrisburg
Across the river
I’m not feeling guilty so much
Nor do I dissemble
I am one
Who else could there be unless the
Dissolution in the building be resolved
Next door they are several
They take up the parking with
Their cars from out of state
The violence was verbal
And, yes, I know, it is an insane world
Proved by this part of it
Raving where there was no crowd
For hearing or responding
Small repentance, if there should be any
Did he think himself
The voice in the wilderness?
A prophet by the Jordan for our time?
I doubt I’ll ever know
I guess I could be
Shaken just a little
I’ll have some coffee now
Then take my pills
I wish I hadn’t used up the bread I had
For toast
Something nice for breakfast
Might be appropriate
A small salve
For a scratched place on my soul
The cause of fear from confrontation
Or maybe
A caution of indifference
An hour later
A touch jumpy, mostly sad
Fifteen minutes more
Now I’m teary
When I think about
The man in the world
All his wilderness
C L Couch
Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash
clcouch123 
February 2, 2020 at 9:50 pm
People do that all the time in cities. Is it the anonymity, the easy access to drink and drugs, loneliness? I suppose it can be the same anywhere. The things they shout might be different, but it’s still the same call for help, to be noticed, dragged back out of the wilderness.
February 3, 2020 at 7:56 pm
I feel lonely when in cities. I usually go there for some reason; and when I’m between purposes and still there, the unwelcome angles get to me. Not to mention people trying so hard to look unaffected by, well, anything. You’re right about the problems being anywhere and that this man, though he was angry–preaching something somehow–was really calling out for help.
February 3, 2020 at 8:08 pm
There’s isolation in rural areas too, obviously, but it’s maybe harder to cope with when you can see so many people all around you and showing all the signs of having a good time. The fruit and vegetable producers who came in from the countryside to the market in Bordeaux used to say that they had never seen so many nut cases as they did in the market in the early morning.
February 3, 2020 at 9:34 pm
I laughed when I read about the fruit and vegetable producers and the “nut cases” they beheld in Bordeaux!