melancholia,
loneliness
weigh down the insides of buses
streaming out the cold air vents
swirling
seeping into seats

drifting in and out of sleep
passing over state lines
anonymously
in and out
like a whisper nobody hears, each
person immersed in their own heaviness,
traveling for a job they're stuck to
or a girlfriend they've pledged to

songs you love on repeat
clinging onto anything that reminds you of
home while you're on the road

blinking as you pass another overpass, another truck, another
rest stop
everything gray
everything the same
running like an ant on an anthill
trapped in one world
not even knowing the scale of the rest

.