I've narrowly escaped you.
This time...
Still the ground beneath my feet
has yet to discover
the catalyst it requires,
to make it solid enough to say,
I've escaped the possibility of you
forever.

Too many, who have found you
to be their tragic destiny,
have foolishly laughed off the possibility
that they too might find themselves
laying their weary and bewildered heads
upon your cold and unforgiving frame at night,
with newspaper stories meaning little more to them
than a fleeting chance at warmth.

As I pass you by,
I feel none of the nostalgia,
or melancholy thoughts of times gone by
but instead my heart skips a beat
and I am slick with the cold sweat of terror,
for my future is so unsure and unsteady,
as to make me afraid
of a park bench