Essentia

Image by Shavaun Scott

The fog is soft with a glow
smelling of kelp and eucalyptus
the kind of wet that dampens your hair
and requires a jacket.

We walk two small dogs, leashed, and
a lion-cat, unleashed,
up and down the hills
through neighborhoods that are mostly dark.

There are no cars, but the owls in the treetops
call to each other, mysteriously announcing
barking seals in the distance and
a cricket — that could be a frog — on my right.

On a concrete driveway I see a chalk outline
of the alphabet next to a hopscotch square
I realize it’s been 100 years since I’ve played hopscotch
I don’t remember the rules.

© Shavaun Scott 2020