on a warm afternoon
dragging the granny trolley behind
I looked sideways
into another alleyway
and a purple balloon
slowly tumbled toward me
through the weeds
and the gravel
another time
i saw a white cat
off in the distance
in a frozen pose
staring back at me
that time she asked me
“why do you always look
down alleyways, anyway?”
“because you never know
what you’ll see.”