Somewhere from the other side of never
he finds me
brings me “our song”
at a West Virginia roadside rest stop
along highway 77.

Car cacoon surrounds me as
familiar words transport to long ago anniversary
“You’re once, twice, three times a lady
and I love you.”
Staring silently out the window
I feel the loss of
a life taken too soon.
Eyes blur at the memory.

He finds me again
miles up the road hours later
among Marc’s grocery store shelves
looking for eggs
I suddenly stop
rooted to the floor
listening to the words like a delayed echo
across the divide
the same song.
Shoppers walk by oblivious.

Third time, five days later
NPR grabs my attention
and breath
one day before Valentines Day.

“Yes, you’re once, twice, three times a lady
and nothing can keep us apart.”

Maybe it’s true.
Maybe “nothing can keep us apart.”
I hear you, I hear you
all the way across never.

ghb