Zero Presence

In this city I pass through rooms and streets as if the world never wrote me down. People look past the space I occupy. Crowds close around me and never part. This is not shyness. My presence has fallen to zero, and the city keeps its appointments without me. / I can stand close enough to hear what is usually kept private. Private words happen an arm's length away, and nobody turns. I still want a life that refuses to see me. Whether this city will ever answer the person it erased is a question the next street has not settled.