lost and found

i
“hear my voice, child
i am 
not a hired hand 
who comes and goes
as the money flows”

ii
“i will find you
in the alleys of despair
the corners of discontent
the boulevards of disillusion
the freeways of disintegration
the highrises of deconstruction”

iii
rolling at the precipice
of a boundary-less world
allure of freedom allusive 
by pot-holed asphalt returning
from my two-wheeled escape
as the grade drops 
the condo-ed cityscape rises (it’s Kondo’ed, too)
arced power lines etch-a-sketch-ed
across the emerging horizon

iv
my aid-less ears at half-capacity
still filled with litanies
of urban life lunging
towards me

v
harsh honks halt my heart
awakening the fear of not measuring up
a people-pleasing failure
speeding sedan squeezes me into a square inch
like the demands of a hundred pressing voices
can’t find mine
flashing red rear lights race past
forcing me to face it
can’t keep up
home is near, but my route obscure
i’ve lost my sense of direction

vi
kleptomaniac crooks abound
anxious to feed their destructive vices
but the crook of a shepherd’s staff 
saves me
reaching out in gentle pursuit
cradles my soul

vii
“i will go 
to the ends of the earth 
for you i already did
and still am”

viii 
i am found
i lack nothing

ix
oh, my good shepherd, lead 
me to still 
places that i might 
love as you 
have loved

*In the illustration, search for these ‘lost’ items: a book, a sheep, a pair of sneakers, a smile emoji, and a 2-arch bridge*

Written by Scott Moore
Illustrated by Landon Wideman

Inspired April 2021