I jump through the loops
on River Styx Street.
Sharp clicking from my tapping shoes
produce haunted echoes
to which the damned can dance
and celebrate their
hollow chocolate existence.
The false front city surrounds me,
its victim,
patiently biding its time,
stalking,
breathing,
watching
with empty square eyes.
Unalterably, feline curiosity
will consume me,
and I will enter into
an unlocked mouth.
Until then, I jump through
candy cane hoops,
Ignorant of the concave heaven
hovering above.
-- Kerry Ann Herrmann