Sleeper Train

The cabin gently rocks, governed by forces not predestined by equations alone. Scant meaning drips out of the radio, and it's freshman year all over again. While the Mendicants party the night away, the walls futile in keeping their debauchery at bay, I longingly return to you, vapor rising with every breath and quickly whisked away by the wind. But this time you're not here, and I have no way home. A face appears in the doorway. "Why are you by yourself?" "Why aren't you drinking with us?" I politely decline with the promise of joining them soon, all the while fearful of betraying the truth: I want to be alone and left just so, deciphering Russian lyrics and thinking about you.

The room's dark, and the music sad yet steady. You coyly smile at me from far away, from long ago, and my heart thumps to your rhythm. Five is an eternity when it comes to ages, but not for us. With whom else would I row upon the rippling green and stroll along unruly rows of autumn maples? But now you're not with me, and I save the tears for myself.