I hit brakes for the flutter of the lights hoping it’s not a deer
20 or a skunk or a groundhog
coffee splashes over the cup which I quickly put away from me
and into the empty passenger seat
I look …
relieved and exasperated …
25 to discover I have just missed a big wet leaf
struggling … to lift itself into the wind
and live
Illustration of a “possum crossing” sign along a roadway
About the Author
Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni (1943– ) is a writer, an educator, and an activist. She supports topics or social issues that she feels strongly about. Giovanni encourages young writers to trust themselves. She says, “If you know what you’re talking about, or if you feel that you do, the reader will believe you.”

In Other Words

  • flutter of the lights thing that moved in front of the car

Before You Move On

  • 1. Author’s Point of View Why does the speaker want a sign on her street? What does this say about her?

  • 2. Figurative Language What does the speaker mean when she says that the leaf was “struggling to lift itself into the wind and live”? (lines 25–27)