I wanted to climb into the warm bed
but I saw dirt on the covers
and stick insects scattered
when I turned them back
he told me, it’s fine

you can’t go home again

but the nights you held me
burn like wildfire
and I am the hiss of steam that escapes
when a blackened branch breaks and
crashes into cool water

blue lilacs by the roadway
you hung your tattered cowboy hat
on a post, said a sweet goodbye
I wonder where its soul went

I didn’t come for coffee
I should have
a short hello before a long goodbye

I will always love you
and the white straw hat you bought me on that drive into the redwoods
when we ran out of gas
and we didn’t even mind

I'm trying to remember
what day it was when you left me

the last petal fell but you
couldn't see the fruit
I had believed that you'd sink your teeth
into its flesh and taste
for yourself how far
we have come

but you cast away the branch
when the blossom
was gone

reckless driver
and I kept riding shotgun

we thought
it wasn’t real life
we bled and we didn’t notice stains or
scars

how special, we thought,
to dream as two