Streetlights haloed in gray

Streetlights haloed in gray,

blurring edges where the sidewalk ends.

Footsteps swallowed by thickening air—

sounds crumpled in cotton.

Neighbors vanish behind veils,

their voices loose, muffled, incomplete.

The wet pavement drags the light down,

a slow slide into nothing.

The fog folds itself around me,

a curtain dropped mid-scene,

washing the world pale,

like a secret I can't hold.