stalker misstree i follow them around, sometimes, but they don't know it. the pretty shiny things hidden among the rocks, flashing dangerously as the sun shifts... i'm very quiet, uncharachteristic awe and shyness padding my steps, watching, as if they were deer that would startle... but in truth, i'm the deer, and it's my own neck i'm protecting, and i never do them any harm... and sometimes i can pick up a few of the pretty shinies they leave behind... 011122 ... raze is this what he was? no other word seems to fit. i guess i landed on his radar when i became friends with his ex. he started leaving seemingly benevolent comments on my blog. then there were emails. full of unsolicited personal details about his relationship with her. he tried to warn me away, painting her as unstable, when he was the one who wasn't quite right. i would play a gig backing someone up and get a message the next day asking if i'd lost weight. i would meet a friend for coffee and find some words in my inbox when i got home indicating that he'd been eavesdropping on my conversation. because he made sure not to share any pictures of himself anywhere online, i had no idea what he looked like. he never introduced himself to me away from a screen. he made sure to keep me at a disadvantage so he could haunt the margins of my life. it got to be a little unnerving after a while. not knowing when he might be leering at me from across the room. he could be here right now and i wouldn't even know it. 260411 what's it to you? who go blather from