– as I pass
a window goes dark – by the light
it’s seven – traffic’s stop & go –
– I’m drifting –
– I’m almost
in the other lane – white autumn
sky – truant sun
aflame in the changing
leaves – we move in when they start
to fall –
– shuffling of mice –
– warren of plaster & lath – if
we make contact – if
our sheathings fall away –
– this hazard a luxury
we’ve earned – didn’t we say
we’ve come here to die –
– hot wire spun with neutral –
– thread these walls
bare & groundless – bound
to catch
Leia Darwish is an MFA candidate in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University, and lead associate editor emerita at Blackbird. She has been nominated for an AWP Intro Journals award and her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in Copper Nickel, PANK, The Pinch, Southern Indiana Review, and elsewhere.