UMBRAGE

Alone and unseen 

on another empty street, I 

can feel myself swaying 

in the gathering breeze—

like an insect 

who's trapped in the intricate web 

that is this dim and suspicious city—

its many sticky absences 

all strenuously crossing 

over and under each other while I 

wait in the center 

for someone or something deceitful 

to return home and claim
my shadow as its own.