The Outside

I'm walking through the shade and fog
The sound of broken twigs and dry leaves
crunch uncharacteristically loud below my feet.
I'm wandering with my eyes half closed,
my arms out before me
reaching for and protecting me from the outside-
those large, dangerous unknowns that crack into your
unwitting head, if one is not careful.
Relentlessly roaming below the placid surface
of the thick gray air, the outside lives.