You imagined yourself There on the overpass Leaning through snow Further toward cars Their outlines still dark Their headlights Locked by distance Then opening as if Cautiously the beams Lengthening over the median Onto leaves the underside Of certain leaves And the drivers inside Each face described By shadow each Finally simple the skin Lit by the vehicle's instruments In the glow of the dash The faces you'd dreamed of Then gone beneath you Leaning over the highway Further toward cars Toward headlights Opening in the snow
From Clean, published by Persea Books. Copyright © 2011 by Kate Northrop. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.