Comicbook Artist – 5,839 Prime Words

He knew they were behind him,
just there to his left.
He glanced down at his empty hand,
what should have been there, was lost.
His wits, his only weapons now.
So, unsure about so much
he knew he didn’t appear ready,
but he could be swift and agile.
He’d surprise, this yet unseen menace.
They’d expect him to run,
but he’d turn rapidly, sweeping
his fisted hands, landing hard fast blows,
knocking them off balance.
He pictured it all so clearly
as he stood there gazing
at his empty hand, wondering
where he had lost it.
What had it been?
He was very suspicious
of who might be following him,
if someone was following him.
Feeling so much more than lost, now
and completely alone.
He stood quietly suspecting
that reality was only a trick
like images inked
on a tinted page
deceptively enlightening.

“Delusional’ was written in homage to a drawing Dan Panosian posted on social media. I was looking for something, a prompt, to help me write the last 100 or so words of my daily 1,000 word goal. The drawing inspired me to write about a possibly very confused person. That is probably not at all what Dan had in mind. All that he had said about it was that it was a ‘work in progress.’ I sent Dan a rough first draft of this poem and asked if it would be possible to use his image on my Website. Not only was he kind enough to respond to my request, he also granted me permission to use this fantastic drawing.

Dan Panosian is an American graphic design, comic book, advertising and storyboard artist. He is known as @urbanbarbarian on social media and he hosts The Original Drink and Draw Social Club livestream on YouTube. jas