A Man Concealed In Leaves

Out for a night walk
way back when

Seeing a man
off to the side of Main Street
where he’d fallen on
the far edge of the sidewalk
and now lay half-concealed in
brown oak leaves
on the slope
across from
the car dealership

Finding him unresponsive
when I tried to wake him up

Running home to 
call the police
and returning with my dad
to the spot to make sure
they’d find him and watching him —
Dad checked again —
the man was alive then — gesturing from 
the stretcher as they
took him

That’s all I know to this day

I wasn’t more
than fourteen then
I wondered until recently
was he drunk or sick
or both

Was he just trying
to sleep

Did I annoy
or save him

When upon leaving a bar
to go home
I found a dead man
a few years ago
behind a convenience store
I didn’t check first before
calling the cops 

Pulled out a cell phone
Made the simple call then
just stood and watched
Let them do the work
Put up the tape
Asked me a few questions
Sent me home 

where I shrugged it off
and slept just fine

It’s not my job
to be a savior
I’m too annoyed
by the interruptions
in my routine
Let someone else do it

Let my dad
come back from the dead
and do it