how fast would your travel
for want of being known?

to be really seen 
is such a labor 

i too watch headlights 
& pretend they're the eyes
of other monsters

just like me crawling
on all fours in their
noses to the asphalt

when you saw the young couple
did you hope that they might
be your parents?

that maybe you
could be as soft as her
one day

parking their car 
on highway 62's gravel bones
femurs crumbled
under tires

sitting shotgun 
she was the first to see you
as you rose from behind
the tall grass

her mouth opening
without a sound-- the shriek 
lost in some other time

you want to crawl
down her throat & hide there
where she'll never
ever have to see you 
again 

like you i slipped between
my mother's lips

only she was asleep
& i was ten & knew i should
no longer be scared of
nightlight shadows

i grew thick black hair
in bed-- first across
my calves & then my upper lip

in between my thighs
& across my stomach like
a step-ladder

& when the scream reached
her mouth open like
the barrel of a gun 
the two sped off

i don't blame you for chasing
them-- the newspapers say
they drove faster than
100 mph & still couldn't shake you

your wings pumping 
breath sharp in the raw december air 

you think that maybe
if you could grab them &
hold them still for a moment
that maybe they would see you
& not be so afraid

you gave up when you
saw town-- street lights
dull gold flicker

you didn't want to see what
light would do to your body
so you landed & 
sat by the side of the 
road & practiced making
yourself smaller

sitting in the passenger seat
last week i wanted to 
fly out the window & chase
my father down the turnpike 
until he saw how tall
i really am--

how dark my hair's gotten

make him see me--

stunned in my headlight body

i learned to shave
off all parts of myself 
in a vestibule
of my parent's house

thick hair down
the drain

how do the humans live
so naked?

& when they drove back
they saw you again
waiting for them on
the side of the road

stalking the glint in
their eyes

oh if our eyes could
ever be that white
we would roll them in
the dirt

if we meet i'd like to 
just sit & stare at each other

inspect the details of
our figures that others have ran from

at recess the girls running
to sit under the girl-tree 
& the boys scattering to
the soccer field while
i crouched beneath
the slide & dug up worms

tell me do i have our
mother's eyes?

my father's widow's peak?

do you see me?
do you see me?

if we're looking at each other
we must be real 

even if only for
this moment