Austin Gelfman

A DRIZZLE IN THE CLEARING

I bought a beach chair this morning
It was brightly colored reds and blues with the straps that feel like stretchy plastic
It’s the cheap one that everyone thinks is “retro”

With it, I left my obnoxiously and deliberately structured apartment
I walked for the better part of 20 minutes
Into the area of my town that is more wilderness than what already feels like the Wild West
known as LA
A cloud cover just starting to shade me from the normal burning

I walked the shoddy and uncared for path
Not many people come this way
There is a weird energy in the beauty of this untamed mountain side
An energy that is natural and fear inducing

I found a clearing just as the cloud cover turned into a refreshing drizzle
I lift my head to the sky and close my eyes
A few tears sneak their way down unnoticed on my face now becoming wet

I open the beach chair as a sense of nostalgia from my youth hits me like a pillow in the head,
oddly pleasant
I take my seat and close my eyes
My brain suddenly turns into some mechanical device with an off switch that I climb up a tower
to turn off

I sit there soaking in silence save the pitter-patter on the leaves
…I found my happy place

Austin Gelfman writes real time, critical thought pieces. With his extensive improv experience and self aware nature, he opens the treasure chest of his life for you to enjoy. Austin’s experiences have shaped him into a defiant and imaginative man and he finds deep value in that with his expression in the art he creates.