Tag: leaving

I Wipe Them Away

We make time across the Strait
The ferry carries me
From all that I’ve known
To I know not where

Yet

But that matters not
The where is not there
I’ve left there behind
Moved on

Forward?

Who knows
Not I
Just an hour gone
And I miss parts of it

Already

Like a child’s stuffed toy
Or her comfort blanket
The woman no longer needs
Nostalgia alone soothes adult vulnerability

A bit

I hope I’ve left
All such things
To the past
They have earned

Like tears

That have fallen
Already forgotten
But for the trails
Dried on my cheek

I wipe them away

You walk away
With a crushing finality
Ramrod iron spine
Heels strident clacks
Carom across the concrete

Then at the door
The subtlest glance back
Betrays the display
That is your anger

Now I know
The only moment
More remarkable
Than this departure
Will be your return

I know also
The next time
There will be
No backward glance

But
God
Will I be grateful
For one last chance

I’m gone
And she stayed behind
Or I left her

I’m not sure
Which narrative
I like the least

I carry her still
A memory under glass
Shrouded and unrepentant

A story ended
Without end
And yet untold

But for the voice
In my heart
That won’t let her go

Roadtrips take me away
Not to where I am going
Only from where I was

A roadtrip is best
Without clear destination
Without a timeline