by Thom Hawkins
I call Thoreau Walden and he calls me Walden, too
And together we’re convinced that Walden the Pond
used to be Walden the Man—
a man so unconvinced of demands on his person
that he ceased to be one—
he melted against the landscape
with the only evidence of his human form
a slight ripple when he laughs
(Walden and I spend hours chucking punchlines to see who can get the bigger splash)
Walden is jealous of Walden the Pond, and I’m jealous that he pays so much attention to him.
When I catch him immersed to his whiskers, I wish that I was the Walden he was immersed in.
And when Walden’s away
I try to convince Walden the Pond to change back into Walden the Man
and let me take his place—
but Walden just ripples at the suggestion and doesn’t move
and I can’t even convince myself to slouch
let alone accomplish what he has
Yes, yes,
there’s love here, too, on Walden Pond—
but we had to change its name to Walden
Thom Hawkins is a writer and artist based in Maryland. His work has appeared or is scheduled to appear in Oyez Review, Gargoyle, The Fieldstone Review, Poetry Box, Linked Verse, and Uncensored Ink's Banned Books Anthology. His video art and drawings have been displayed at exhibitions or in performances in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. Thom has also appeared with the Baltimore Improv Group, Ignite Baltimore, and on The Stoop Storytelling podcast.