*
You still feel for skid marks
though your shadow is flat on its back
holds fast between the ground and evening

as if there’s room for your hands
and the darkness that’s not a wall
once it’s left to itself

–not a scratch! and underneath
you skim off sideways
end over end the way rain

protects itself, escapes
in the dripping sound its edges
can’t stop in time without falling off.


Simon Perchik