Night Running

deserves solitude

oh I know what they’ll say about
running in pairs to avoid the thieves
muggers
rapists
boogie men
(grey-black figures that would stop
your heart if it could)
that creep outside after dark
that (hide) in the darkness
where the circles of the street lamps
don’t quite overlap

but alone

every cat’s turned black across your path
every tree’s an ill omen with arms outstretched

and every car’s driver becomes a mystery
headlights blinding and you’re ready
to leap from the road (at the last possible
moment) not wanting death but wanting
the possibility of metal on flesh: impact
that throws
your body aside

(not) wanting (impact) but the possibility
that makes the night alive