by Kelsey Winters

Created on: September 04, 2009

A single flag
Ashen silk hanging limp in the cool evening air
Captured, hidden under the quilted blanket of the night
Clothed in brittle bushes
Covered by the delicate azaleas
Cradled in the emptiness
Hidden from danger
For the moment
Always fearing
Whenever a silhouette passes by
Or a cricket cries out
Or a swift breeze pushes a branch
Always hearing the hushed whisper
Surrounded by a million voices
Dashing all around
Never quite able to make out the words
An outsider
Like a sewage puddle in a field of yellow daisies
Trying to blend in
Wanting to pass through unnoticed
For a while
But it won't last
A hiding spot can't stay hidden forever
Someone will stumble upon it
The dry dirt might not hold
The brittle pole could fall
Or someone might hear
The faint crack of the red nylon
Or maybe the wind
Will push it into the spotlight
But for now, it is just
A single flag
Standing erect in the shadows
Towering over the beetles of the earth
But cowering at any signs of life
Slouching under the looming branches
Of the old oak tree overhead
Shrinking behind the cover of pink
On the cold azalea's branches
Trying to stay hidden on this ordinary night

Learn more about this author, Kelsey Winters.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.