A Man in the Spotlight

by Chris Patterson

He stood on his words
like crutches,
strategically placed
specifically chosen
plodding
predictably forward.

The audience fidgeted
at where he'd been
and sighed at where
he was going.

Then dawned the day.
He looked everywhere
under
over
in unlikely places.

As the light moved
shadows
from left to right
it revealed much
but not the
precious crutch.

In the darkness the light
became a spot.

This time
his words stood
on the precipice,
hesitant
balanced
unfurling as
they flew down
and floated out.

The audience
gasps
to see where he's going
and anticipates
where he's been.

In the absence of the crutches,
his red, chafed underarms
cooled and healed
in the wind
of winging it.

The Author

I was born in Elmira, New York and moved around to all the hot spots of the automobile industry growing up. After graduating from Michigan State University, I worked in Chicago as a writer/producer and director of local television and radio commercials and marketing videos for local companies. In 1995, I opened a bagel shop in Hilton Head, South Carolina. When that closed in 1999, I went to work for Walt Disney Company. I currently am a training facilitator at the Disney Reservation Center. I enjoy writing poetry, especially for my family and friends. You can find me on Live Journal as cap_killer.