Achilles Street

Standing still among swaying silhouettes
of bare branches, willows in the wind,
I bathe my tired eyes in sandy skies
of amber. Slung carelessly in the wake,
leaves shiver and yearn for the defeated sun.
Beneath my feet the sodden earth trembles
and the grass is limp, uprooted, blue.
I must have dropped my compass in the park,
lost my purpose, wandered down the wrong path,
sprained my ankle and slumped to the pavement,
watched the last light fade from the black eyes
of windows, staring from cold empty apartments.
I miss my white-walled room, and my love —
I am stabbed in the heel, lost in the woods,
a wandering spirit fading in the dusk.