Hide and seek

Missing persons
on a poster on the wall.
The faces of people who
have nothing in common
except their absence.
\”Do I know their
whereabouts?\” asks the poster.
No, I don\’t.
Nor does anyone
it seems
although one lost
soul has been found
a sticker announces.
But can I guess?
Perhaps I can.
They are all people
for whom time
is out of joint.
People who have been
dislodged from their path
like a train hitting a log
on a rail line.
People who have
to disappear, avoiding
more logs.
The memory of them
fading as surely as
their long out-of-date
photo fades on a Missing poster.
Unless someone, somewhere
sees them before the
image disappears completely.
And calls them back,
ready or not.