Refraction

I wait on the curb worried
about how I look to everyone.
I know logically no one is watching.
They are focused on their destinations,
and nagging nightmares in the shapes
of tree branch shadows; cast by moonlight
through their windows like a prism refracting dark.

No one else is standing still.
They are all in a hurry for something,
or with someone pulling them along.
Moments like this are where invisibility
would have its most practical application.
A chameleon shifting to match the color
of the sidewalk; preferring to be crushed
before giving itself away.

I see your blue car pulling off the road,
and into the lot toward me.
The hurried walkers part around you
like ants around a rock, or most things
bigger than they are.
I open the door and sit down relieved
like I just made a great escape.
Like the entire world was chasing me
all at once, and here with you
becomes my only chance to make it.