Apparitions Defiant
by David Matthews

Apparitions of Apollinaire
and Jacques Prévert
stalk my shadow
along sidewalks and sides of buildings,
reflection in storefront windows
and smiles of chic baristas
at cafes where students come and go,
whispered breaths of autumn,
beginning of fall term.

Apparitions of Rosa Luxemburg,
Mary Wollstonecraft, suffragettes,
shoulder to shoulder, unbowed,
beside an earnest young woman
with an Abolish ICE sign
waiting for the streetcar bound
for the south end of the line,
in the company of William Blake
and the prophet Isaiah
who speak with the voice
of righteous indignation
and no care for the consequences,
whispered breaths of autumn.

Tumble-down leaves,
colors waiting for a poet to name them,
swirl up and away
into the mysterious air
dazzled bright by morning light.
I see these shades and shadows
defiant against the terrible madness
that scars this sometimes beautiful world,
apparitions of Apollinaire
and Jacques Prévert,
Rosa, Mary, suffragettes,
Blake and Isaiah,
whispered breaths of autumn.