A Safe Place

I had a vague sinking sensation I was making wrong turns

so I slowly laid aside the google map

and went instead with my gut instinct.

An iron claw gripped my gut as I

drove by structures grim-faced

bearing the neglect of years.

I tamped down my

internal voice which asked—

Can I find the way?  Will I

Find the way? Where is a QT with the sign, Safe Place?

(never mind a man was killed in the men’s bathroom stall

just a week ago).

Turning indiscriminately, other cars passed like

ghosts from another realm.

My shoulders tensed, hands gripped the wheel.

Would I find my way? I pushed this fear down.

My tight throat seemed filled like a mouthful too big to swallow.

I performed a U turn and could imagine being

Arrested for being this wrong person in this

Wrong neighborhood.

Then I saw her striding up the sidewalk--

a tall, lean figure dressed in bright colors—a vest, gypsy shirt, sash around the torso.

Her colors made her stand out amidst drab urban blight.

She wore no blouse under her vest so that

every other step her bare breasts would sway outward as if

coming up for air or reasoning or fun then would

retreat hidden within the folds of her vest.

She didn’t seem to mind or care or be fearful or

concerned. What did she seem?

Meanwhile, she gained ground

continued with her purposeful gait, her heels clipping along on uneven sidewalks.

Her skin shone the dazzling darkness of black so dark it seemed

green like deep foliage growth where no humans had been.

Then another moment it carried a deep blue cast like

the lapis lazuli favored by a pantheon of gods.

Meanwhile, she stepped lively up the hill, not winded or encumbered by her heels

though precariously leaning one way then the next with each step.

She talked to herself. She sang as well.

Where was she going? Did she have a home?

Her clothes appeared makeshift, yet artistically draped around her body

as if to say in a self-conscious manner, “Look at me.  My name is……”

I wanted to stop the car and speak.  I wanted to race up the hill and say, “Hello

My name is…..” I wanted to make her acquaintance as I felt I would be well-received.

It didn’t seem to matter so much that I was decidedly lost at this point.

Didn’t know from whence I had come.

So I kept on all the while as my internal compass said this way

then that.  Even as I was making these wild turns in abandon

I saw her round the hill and keep going a particular distance.

She walked as if she knew the way.  I kept tabs on her journey even 

as I arrived at my destination.

The door opened. In the face of my host I saw behind

To the blocks beyond, to the streets where I had just driven. Now deserted

I had an eerie feeling I was losing my connection with her.  Where would she

Be heading next? Would she find a safe place?