Unintended Consequences by Tobias Maxwell

When we hitchhiked just past midnight
Aiming for Orillia by dawn, the
Still-life sights along Lake Couchiching
Seemed unreachable, by far. We were 20 and
26 respectively, each had agendas the other
Longed for. I, a reprise to my grand escape when
Only 15; you, a means to find peace through
My dogged adventure. We managed rides
In the middle of the night while standing illegally
On off-ramps to my private Babelmania, rides from
Total strangers we would never see again, to a land
Where time had been sown to seed haphazardly.
 
Geneva Park lay under a brilliant mist that summer
Morning— our disco attire entirely amiss by daylight.
We fed and lounged as I gave you the glory tour, as
I retraced precocious steps, hardly able, incapable of
Touching dismissive time, an era gone asunder.
As I stood on its consecrated grounds, terrain that
Had conferred upon me identity, big “I”, little “d”,
(A measure of Id destroyed by too much ego),
I understood then the boy who had launched from
There. Not yet a man touched so much by pain
As by youthful sorrows that had come too
Close to drowning me, Icarus rebound.
 
By noon, the artifice of our stay had swollen into artifacts,
Memories ready to be folded away origami-style,
Mini treasure maps for the lost & found soul,
Should the going get rough; turbulence
Brought on by unintended consequences.

About the Poet:

Tobias Maxwell is the author of two novels, Thomas (semi-finalist Lambda Awards 2003) and The Sex and Dope Show Saga; a novella, And Baby Makes Two, three memoirs, 1973—Early Applause, 1977—The Year of Leaving Monsieur and 1983—The Unknown Season; and a poetry collection, Homogium.  His short story, The Appointment, was in the fall 2018 issue of Worlds Magazine available online.

His articles have appeared in Balita and Mom…Guess What newspapers, LA Edge, Art & Understanding, New Century and The California Therapist magazines. His one-act play, The Mary Play, was republished in 2014 by Black Lawrence Press in Art & Understanding: Literature from the First Twenty Years of A&U.