The Invisible Poem by Micah Krahn

This is a bizarre story about a man I once called my friend, let me take you back a few years and really get this story going. Trust me, you'll want to hear this.

It has been said many times that a man who is nameless is indeed no man at all; he had ever but one only known name, for no one knew his second name nor did he create an invitation to discover his last name. Thus, this mysterious gentleman was called Ethan. The city, where I lived back in the day is where I first met him. He lived near the flat I rented, not really sure where but I knew it had to be close as he was outside every day greeting me with a smile. Which I unknowingly dismissed and waved off without realizing because my schedule mattered to me most when I was running late for work, which was nearly every morning.

I reassured myself that he wasn't homeless. A fact I was none too thrilled about when I learned that he was indeed.

Our paths would never have crossed if my typical quotidian mundane worlds wouldn't have been electrically charged and collided with his like a shuddering quiver.

That particular Monday was especially offbeat, for no reason except I forgot to brew myself a cup of coffee which thankfully for the right reasons spiraled my day right out of control and played right into Ethan's world.

Slamming the door and in a panic, like I always was. Fully expecting that familiar routine of a simple 'hello how are you this morning? ' and that humble recognizable smile which never came, caught me a little bit off guard, slipping on the last step leading from my condo and landing head over heels onto the city sidewalk. Bewilderment had me sitting there for a few minutes, unsure of what to do next.

No resounding laughter or comments from the shuffling crowds outside my building, which would usually happen to anyone in this part of town. I could have sworn before that I lived in the comedic part of town with a joker living on each street corner shouting out their newfound humor of the morning. I was momentarily disabled from ascending to my feet. In that single moment is when I caught something most peculiar out of the corner of my eye.


Amongst the busyness of everyday people ushering back and forth, etched into the sidewalk for but an instant was a shadow that belonged to no one. I saw shadowed shaded shoes imprint the sunned sidewalk but for a second. Such a short instance in time is all that I needed to allow my curiosity to run wild. With no time to waste, hobbling after the shadowed shoed figure, careful not to arise suspicion I crept onwards. Forsaking my sworn duties to my current employer at least for the rest of the day was barely a footnote in the back of my mind; I would call him at a later time and leave some sort of excuse which warranted any good thoughts I would have at the moment.

As the crowd began to dissipate at a street corner, every person from the crowd finding their own path to walk, separating from the herd of everyday minions aimlessly walking to work. The figure was ahead of me by at least ten paces and then something happened. All of a sudden, with absolutely no warning a man from the crowd walked from the crowded sidewalk and right into the lanes of halted traffic. All this would usher nothing upon more than a cautionary warning from the crowd for the man to get back onto the sidewalk, except for what happened next. The man ambled to halfway across the crosswalk when all of a sudden a shaded blur flashed by the man and pushed him backwards catapulting him backwards, spiraling through the air and ploughing through the crowd like a rag doll, sounded the pedestrian with several dull thuds and a lot of astonishing chatter about what had just occurred.

Picking ourselves up off the ground like meaningless bowling pins near the intersection and paralleled sidewalk, baffled thoughts erupted into explosive chatter as the crowd began to move about, aimlessly ambling back to their dull themed jobs and mundane lives.

After walking several blocks, the figure edged around a corner and stopped just short of the enormous green trash bin. Glancing around the corner I saw the shadow instantly reappear to a humanistic form. He was a tall and stunning man, dressed in an all black suit, save for the grayed vest and casual white long sleeved shirt which was neatly tucked in and the cuffs rolled up to his forearms. Ironically he looked a lot like someone I had seen much earlier that day.


I couldn't put my finger on it, I knew that face! Where had I seen him before? Could it possibly be? Nah... It couldn't be, but could it? My mind explored every possible scenario. Puzzled thoughts evaporated when I saw he throw his expensive fabulous suit & tie into the gigantic dumpster, bending down he retrieved his some grubby garments and put them on.


Complete shock empowered me at that very second! It WAS Ethan! Still unseen, I quietly backed away silently trying hard not to make a sound but my feet neglected a crunched up pop can, and as soon as it rattled from my shoe to the concrete, that was that. Startled he looked up and looked around, not a soul in sight, save for one. Me. Quickly dodging out of sight, I escaped his 360 glare I looked up again and he was gone. No where to be seen, thoughts were swimming in my head about his whereabouts. Perplexed and confused one question still ogled my mind.


And yet perhaps, was he ever there to begin with?