The bone of a girlhood wish ivory smooth & shining
That I will always be alone like you
& everyone
Once
I wanted to pierce your solitude & then
Rilke said no Rilke before psychotherapy or anyone
& then I wanted to stand guard over your solitude
I have been chased from the gates, hounded
tooth & the horror of a snarl
& then & then
& then your solitude grew
& it guarded itself the way the shepherd
guards what is his by running into the road
toward me like a bullet on a September morning as I pass
running, running