Blanching
for Alli Warren

After a while the ants start getting bigger.
The ones that move faster have some kind of whiteness
around their bodies, like wings or the skin
of an egg. Occasionally I have an
itch somewhere and I look expecting
to see something crawling along it.

We always go spelunking on the same side of the street.
We are looking down at the ground in the hope
that we won't see anything, but suddenly there's
a slab of new concrete, or a flattened
irregular disc that might have been alive.
Or even what looks like a bird's wing, shed
or severed, with a moistened bit of flesh
still attached. No, wait, that actually happened.

It's still possible to steer with one hand,
but I wouldn't advise it. This is a large
community of trees and automobiles,
and you really should know your way around
before you go walking where you aren't wanted.