Searching for Real by Dan Provost

For Mike Taylor
 
I’ve chased the gods
many times in
 
dreaded dreams
where I was hoping to touch
at least a tassel of a robe or
 
find a hint of something that
truly exists.
 
Sometimes, I also feel a touch
on my shoulder during a 37 Miller Lite
binge.
 
…A ghost that
whispers in my ear,
 
Saying--
 
And even if you could, so what?
 
I raise my bottle…
Toasting the invisible,
quiet hero…
 
Hoping he could
hop the gate around
my fence
 
…and tell me
 
if I should or not?

Dan Provost has been published throughout the small press for many years.  He is the author of nine books and lives in Berlin, New Hampshire with his wife Laura