Smooth as a shadow
she walks away
while I hold myself together
with zippers of smiles
and laughter

which fumble apart when she's gone.

Kareen deals several cards,
stripping anonymity
from the suits and numbers,
mingling with chance.
The table widens whenever she loses,
so her opponents
cannot win.

The leaves belong to the wind,
their colors give it form
as it rides through the streets
and sweeps away summer.

It comes and goes,
she says, poisonous but trite.
Vivid things change around me,
so I smile, I condescend, but
I am sinking.