The cobblestones aped & iterated,

precise as a sonnet, cold as a tooth, stone, stone,

the city let light slip betwixt its chimneys with

a loose & lisping grasp, careless, 

wind pirouetted on gutters, the gargoyles would not blink,

my shadow doubled, trebled, heavy at my feet, 

a graven image dragged down the sidewalk, sullied, sore,

mirror to my thrashing heart.