This was deep winter in Boston
and I was on my way to the
head ashram down the street
and around the corner for sadhana.
Walking briskly through the just-before-dawn
snow covered streets, my head was down
watching my steps. I gripped my
coat tighter around me against the biting wind.
I was on my own this morning…running behind.
I didn’t want to be late.
I didn’t want to slip on the ice.
Enormous, dirty
hills of snow lined my path
the entire way…so I took
to the middle of the street
which was clear.
No traffic had to be avoided
Lifting my head, my gaze
fell on an outline ahead in a
snow bank to the left.
I couldn’t quite make it
out but as I quickly
approached closer, yes
I see it clearly, a figure
stretched out on his back
is he injured…sick?
I’m now almost in
line with the supine
man who is now
staggering to his
feet and mumbling
something at me.
There’s no mistaking,
he is completely naked!
Quickening my pace,
I rush past him as he’s
still attempting to get
to his feet. (He’s moving
in complete slow motion.)
One last glance back before
I round the corner, I see
him standing in the
middle of the road
staring after me.
Kelvin explains the Anecdote to us at dVerse Poets: http://dversepoets.com/2013/04/06/poetics-the-anecdote/
Bodhirose's Blog 
Jamie Dedes
/ April 7, 2013What a shocker, eh?
Well done, Gayle.
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Yes, truly a shocker! Thanks, Jamie.
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brian miller
/ April 7, 2013hahaha oh my…what a surprise…wonder where his clothes went…lol…perhaps she will throw them down to him before frostbite eh? i rather hope he was not homeless…or a bit daft…wow..yeah you cant make those up…smiles.
email you some notes tomorrow…
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Have no idea how this guy ended up laying in a snow bank naked. When I got to my destination and reported my weird encounter some men walked over there to see about him. He was nowhere in sight. Hope he was ok too…
Will look for your notes, Brian.
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Rowan Taw
/ April 7, 2013Yeah let’s hope he didn’t catch cold – the things that happen..
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Yeah, how do people get in this circumstances? Very odd.
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claudia
/ April 7, 2013oh heck…maybe he was one of the naked joggers i heard about…never seen one though…ha…hope he didn’t catchacold…smiles
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013If not a cold maybe a ticket from the cops for indecent exposure! You’d have to be really nuts to be jogging naked in the dead of Boston’s winter…
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mindlovemisery
/ April 7, 2013I do wonder what happened to him, but at the same time if I saw him I would be scared too. This reminds me of when my mom worked at Burger King, she worked really long hours and one night she went to take the trash and there was a naked man lying in the dumpster, she was pretty incredulous but also shaken up!
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Yeah, it’s freaky to see a naked person out in public! I can imagine your mother’s surprise too. No one could find this guy when he was looked for… don’t know what became of him.
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mindlovemisery
/ April 7, 2013So bizarre and something you will likely never forget!
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Kelvin S.M.
/ April 7, 2013…that was completely ridiculous but oh… you can never tell the history behind… it was intriguing & disturbing that i both would like & wouldn’t like to know the story… it could just someone tripping … a jackass maybe… or could be someone completely insane or maniac or i dunno… smiles… thanks for this Gayle… enjoyed it… happy sunday!
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Yeah, we were curious about the story of how he came to be there too but was gone when some men went back to investigate. We never found out anything. Happy sunday, Kelvin…thanks for a fun prompt!
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Tino
/ April 7, 2013With it being so cold, I can magine it wasn’t worth stopping as there wouldn’t be much worth looking at 😉
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Hahaha! Very funny…but true! ;~)
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charlesmashburn
/ April 7, 2013Oh, my! What a surprise that must’ve been! A frightening one, I betcha!
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013Yes, a complete and creepy surprise!
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Mary
/ April 7, 2013Ha, you are right….you couldn’t make something like that up!! I just keep thinking how very COLD he must have been out there on the snowy day completely NAKED. One would really like to know the backstory here…..
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013It was super cold…high snowbanks of frozen tundra and then this naked dude laying out there. I did send “help” for him but he couldn’t be found.
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Grace
/ April 7, 2013I believe you.. if it was too cold he might be suffering from hypothermia…where one hallucinates and takes off his clothes….poor man though ~
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Bodhirose
/ April 7, 2013You’re so right, Grace. It doesn’t take very long out in conditions like that to get in trouble. He could not be found when I sent some people back to check things out…hope he was ok too.
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Sabio Lantz
/ April 7, 2013Wow, I wonder if he died of exposure. I’ve taken care of people like that in my ER. Usually they are drunk, psychotic or both.
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Bodhirose
/ April 11, 2013Obviously something wasn’t right with that guy…I don’t know what…
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pandamoniumcat
/ April 7, 2013Oh that’s creepy, I’ve been confronted like that…not in the snow though and it leaves you with an eerie feeling… you did the right thing, it’s not worth taking a chance with your safety… I reported my encounter to the police…
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Bodhirose
/ April 8, 2013Very creepy…and troublesome. What the heck was he doing out there naked?! I don’t remember if we called the police or not..
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Renee Espriu
/ April 7, 2013Whoa! At least he didn’t follow you! No, I agree, you couldn’t make this up. LOL
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Bodhirose
/ April 8, 2013He was either too cold or otherwise impaired to move very fast at all…there’s no way he could have caught up with me! I was outta there!
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Renee Espriu
/ April 8, 2013Don’t blame you one bit and I hope your sweet grandbaby is doing well…you also. Take Care!
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Bodhirose
/ April 8, 2013She and her parents just got back last night from a trip to Philly where her dad is from. Got to spend time with her most of the day today…she’s a little honey. Could it be possible that she gets cuter every day? 🙂
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Gray Dawster
/ April 8, 2013A streaking pedestrian is all one needs to wake up on a morning, I wonder if he managed a smile after such a glancing blow to his ego? 🙂 lmao I really like your take on this story, yes a truism but still a wickedly told encounter 🙂 Hey and stop taking an extra peep, naughty 😉 lol Happy Monday Gayle 🙂 xxx
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Bodhirose
/ April 8, 2013There was no extra peeping going on…I was scared! He was not at all appealing in any way…hehe…but you’re a funny one, Geoff! xoxo
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Gray Dawster
/ April 9, 2013I was being a tad wicked
there I know 😉 🙂 lol Hey you
have a very sweet Tuesday
and be well Gayle 🙂 xxx
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Bodhirose
/ April 11, 2013I know..you can’t help yourself… 😉 Have a good Friday and weekend to come! xoxo
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Lorna's Voice
/ April 8, 2013Well, I bet you didn’t see much of his “manly parts.” You know, due to “shrinkage.” 😉
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Bodhirose
/ April 8, 2013You and Tino (see above) are on the same wavelength, Lorna. I was rushing by too fast to notice any manly parts…shrinking or otherwise! 🙂
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bardessdmdenton
/ April 8, 2013Well, what an experience, Gayle. A new twist on indecent exposure … indecent frostbite! Lovely that you were concerned for him. Hope this isn’t the way angels sometime are among us … XO
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Bodhirose
/ April 8, 2013Right you are, Diane! If angels are among us like this they may want to rethink their approach! xoxo
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kkkkaty
/ April 9, 2013Other possibilities: he had to leave the man’s wife’s house before he had time to dress.. he was on cocaine..it was a dare..or he believed the cold run would be good for him?? hope he made it somewhere safely..a rare sight indeed..
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Bodhirose
/ April 11, 2013You have a good imagination! He wasn’t running when I came across him…maybe he got tired and needed a short nap after his run though… 😉 One sight too many for me!
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dragonkatet
/ April 9, 2013Truth is oft times stranger than fiction, for sure. Not knowing what happened to bring him there in the first place, you could easily write a story to fill in the gaps (You’re good at writing stories, ya know). 🙂 Glad you weren’t assaulted and hope the poor fella made it someplace warm.
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Bodhirose
/ April 11, 2013Well I hadn’t thought of that, Corina…a story filling in the gaps. Hey, I could use one of Katy’s ideas (see above). And thank you for the very nice compliment too. After that incident, my husband bought me a small billy club and a whistle to call for help. I never used either one. Could I really have bopped someone on the head if I had had to? Gives me the creeps to think about it…
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Imelda
/ April 13, 2013I am glad you were safe, though I hope that the man got the help he needed, if he ever really needed one.
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Bodhirose
/ April 14, 2013Thanks, Imelda. I shudder to think if had been quick on his feet…but no, I out ran him easily. Have no idea what happened to that mixed up man.
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