walking - ruby takes to the street

walking with a headache into air
potent with rain, grey with water
the sky and too much attention needed
for bottle brush, wisteria
siamese at a window

each step past all other need
and game, the rain down
my right side - temple to ear
brow to cheek

somehow is undoing me
between gutters and crossings
the four island girls
taking all the path
threads unwinding before me

visions waves as it sees me
going between crowded conversations
past election posters, oil, legumes
taffeta, sacks of rice
looking for the temple of coffee

sitting in a cool corridor
under sky-dropped noise
beside road fuel and daily racket
seized with news
and comment the same, all
the same

in the test of minutes
before the way again
foot for foot
in walking language
back into the valley and sky.

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