Make Me a Wraith

make me a wraith

i stalk my
neighborhood
at nightfall

where spirits
take the form of deer
and move through
parallel pillars
of the oak-lined
suburban sidewalks

i seek them
i beg to belong
i plead

make me a wraith
beyond reproach
not some faded housewife
in a pastel-denim-tiled
suicide nightmare

unconcerned with my existence
the deer sprawl like iron sculptures
on the lawns of perfect brick houses

my black heels rasp
against cement
my slack-mouth
spreads into
a streetlit
smile

some one waits for us

a shutter snaps
from the darkest
stripe of shadow

blurring
what
we claim
to be