it rained without warning
the world outside
a gray, unhappy look.
night
continued to fall.
she, telling herself
not to lose her way
that night of confusion.
wind had began again.
whipping in eaves
above her head.
a man’s voice sounded
at her shoulders.
all at once,
alone with the world.
this man---
wildly against her.
her ruffles wet and wilted,
she turned to him
fallen.
(words from Kerima Polotan’s “The ******