I want you to see something
the next time a man on the street
tells you you're beautiful
say I know
and watch him try to take it back
I take my 15s now
she hears her own voice
so loud and distorted
in her head that she was
reluctant to speak at all
I walk down the very center
of the empty parking lot
and sit with my back pressed
against the yellow fire hydrant
the shimmering fall sun dances
and one plane with its white line
is framed in the church window
between my hat and sunglasses