I promised…I know… but only the sun
rises for certain each day.
If I stay away too long,
will her smile wander from my memory?
What about the Seine in autumn,
a place I’ve never seen?
Whoever we are, I think, is defined
by the places we have never been,
defined in the glowing silhouettes
of those we’ve yet to meet.
We’re running through the rain,
splashing puddles with our feet,
losing each other in Union Station,
rushing toward different trains.
Tomorrow, maybe I’ll say something.
We’ll see. I guess it all depends.
I promised… I know…
but if I stay away too long,
whose face would I light up
just by walking into the room?
And by whose glowing gaze
would my own face be lit,
until I could finally see
something of myself defined within it?
She is still undefined, reclined
in the passenger seat,
the windows down, wind all around
her eyes gently closed, but not asleep,
her smile’s sublime curls,
frame sunlight on her face. I can see
her in the truck’s side mirror.
I imagine she is thinking of me.
And for one passing moment,
with the road unspooling behind,
all the places we have never been
begin to feel defined.
