A heat wave has broken and
colder winds carry another august
Stores change signs
Pretending, behind glass
they belong to the seasons
mannequins wear
" Your fall fashions "
In bus mirrors I wear thinning clothes
My face narrows without fat
With fewer teeth
Tonight I saw a dying raspberry
New planted
Later
A cab honked, still got stuck at red
A bartender carried her bottle opener in her right jean pocket
Like a gunfighter
Pistol ready
Took many shots
All hit
Tonight I saw the slow river
flowing in a movie paced with
The brown water
Next to me a friend
We dated in high school
Stole kisses in auditoriums
She aged like a mirror
I see her fifteen years
And more to come
other years not taken
she touched her leg in the theater, sighing
People want things in their own time
you may be inches off
they don't want you.
you're a witness
I saw billboards
Tires spinning
Drivers eager
Their best shoes useless
I have made myself a passenger
can't disembark. Can't backtrack.
to the summer
Your arms
I heard tonight a stampede clap of dress shoes on pavement
Short black dresses running
White skirts running
The whole 10th and market
Like a marathon race
From mystery to mystery
a hundred strangers
with a schedule
keeping time