I heard an anguished cry in an empty street.
It woke me like a lion from the veldt,
furious upon the dew-moist grass.
Cold terror upon my cheeks.
Hands knotted in the sheets.
Eyes wide in the dark.
My nakedness an invitation to the predator.
Heart beating in the
lonely room,
I trembled...
—Excerpt from "The Lonely Room" by Keith Woo, as it appears in "The Heavy Work of Vanishing: The Collected Poetry of Keith Woo," edited by Pi'ilani Kilani, page 238.