Last 3 letters of the spring

Crossing paths with strangers

Avoiding their glances

Always looking at their shoes

Never at their faces, little Miss scaredy-cat is actually afraid

Never missed a thing—thought she’d die defeated 

If she passed you by.

That must have been the universe finally breathing out

after holding its breath for six months

So that you know:

The clocks are ticking again, and the snow is already melting

still cold—happy wrinkles buried in my babushka scarf 

Your feet are wet. There was a joke somewhere, but not now!

Now I look nice, don’t I?

That wasn’t my voice calling your name; it must have been my guardian angel.