The World Forgot Me for a Moment

I didn't intend to go that far

— just followed a sidewalk crack.

until the sound stopped.

No sirens. No footsteps.

Just the wind practicing something soft

through a line of crooked birch trees.

A crow made a head turn, appeared to be aware of a joke.

I didn't get invited to laugh.

There was a bench—

shattered, angled, still holding space like it mattered.

I sat without scrolling.

No camera.

No clever caption.

A leaf landed on my knee

and offered no remorse. The clouds passed without drama,

without meaning. As though they had nothing to show.

And for a few long,

breathable minutes,

the world forgot me.

Not in the lonely way—

in the most beautiful way,

where nothing requires your return.