thankyou to a girl in a green coat
out where my alleyway meets the street
who as i jimmied my frigid window
raised a camera to her eye,
winked quickly, walked away

causing me to pause,
notice how inviting the light was
and resolve to go outdoors,
fill up my hat with it

shadows already
falling like snow, filling cracks
in brick walls, swallowing firstly
culs-de-sac, sidestreets

as an afternoon's long angles
untangle themselves from fire escapes
and spiral staircases,
slowly winding into sun
like a ball of red yarn.

a long walk, letting fresh air
wash the barsmoke out of my coat

brought a notebook,
sat at la joute,
wrote this in it

slightly later, noticed the moon
like a dime on the sidewalk,
plucked it up, plunked it
in a proffered coffee cup,
winked quickly, walked away