Free at Last
by Skald

Hot Georgia sun overhead, baking my shaved head as I stroll the square in downtown Gainesville. Slow and easy gait as I make my way to the library.... a smile springs to my face.... I notice the trees rustling in the breeze... I feel the heat and wetness in the air. Im done with work-- nothing to do and nowhere to go.

It happended about a month ago... my mind finally caught up with circumstances. Suddenly I have discovered Thoreau's breakthough.... life is not a hardship... my life has become a past time. Im working 19 hours a week yet have plenty of money. The sun is out, the days are long, the nights are cool and tinged with magic. I arise early to meditate. In the afternoons I run in the languid heat beneath pines and oaks... Athena bounding along with me. When Im finished I am drenched in sweat... a purifying, cleansing sweat. My life is filled with abundance.

These are the rewards of the Hobopoet life... the long sought rewards.
I have time to sit, time to contemplate, time to notice. I have become a real human being.