woman in a barrel

riding smoothly
along the path
i see a woman lying
half in, half
out of the barrel
in the woods, she
is wearing a
week's worth
of clothing, and
there is a small
fire burning
nearby. she is
neither awake
or sleeping. i slow
my pedaling down,
to see, to wonder,
to ignore, to stop
and find something
to say, until she
rises, until she
speaks and yells
with flailing
hands, and arms,
just leave me alone,
just go away. there
are tears, like
stars within her eyes.