'Treading on shadow'

Looking down the Charles toward Boston

“Taking the well-worn path in the mind through dusk encroaches
upon the mind, taking back alleys careful step by step
past parked cars and trash containers, three blocks to the concrete ramp
of the footbridge spanning the highway with its rivering, four-lane
unstaunchable traffic, treading on shadow and slant broken light

my mother finds her way.’’

— From “Island in the Charles ,’’ by Rosanna Warren