I go out alone
a way a ways away
paying in distance for anonymity
avoiding familiar haunts
so as not to encounter ghosts
a song plays —unstoppingly—
if a girl falls into the woods,
with no one there to hear,
was she ever anywhere else at all,
is she really even here?
I dance this beat with tone-deaf strangers
they wonder
attractive women who sicken me
they crave
indistinguishably kind and dangerous
they expect
I unravel myself gracefully
drunk from absorbing winter’s chill
elicit her nameless laughter
catch the pleased phrase “like magic”
I don’t believe in it though
I say as much to her bewilderment
then I leave
alone
unobligated
unaffected
and satisfied.