city

[slowlyunfolding]

The desolation of a parking lot
late at night
after the shoppers leave
a plastic bags dances by
barely touching the ground
the lights on posts
so tall they hold back the night
illuminate pools on the tarmac below
cities of light
for moths that bang against each other
in their whirling drunken flight
the only sound the hum of traffic on the freeway
muffled by distance
while the moths
always return to the light
I am shut out of this intimacy
to walk on alone
skirting these cities of insects
as they dance
20 feet in the air.