Yet even in clear daylight
the hauntings may return
when that driver’s window opens
on a narrow street beside you,
someone’s shadowing your shadow
or, behind, a metal tread
rings out across neglected spaces
of these failed developments –
and though this isn’t Copenhagen,
Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam,
no, it’s Parma, even here
with personal threat level rising,
paces quicken at the dread
of what may be around you,
however innocent its shadow
or reasonless your fear.