Dead End Road

This one is very personal to me. I don't normally write poetry, but I felt the need to tell this story in this way. These are my thoughts as I struggle to accept the end of a 3-year relationship.

Dead End Road

 

I turn the wheel in every direction,

Driving the streets of my ghostly city.

Tin cans as gray as the sky rattle in the gutters,

Leaves blow by like tumbleweeds.

My brakes squeal out in protest,

an animal in pain that grows, and grows.

 

Ours was a dusty, dead end road,

visited on many a frigid night.

Nestled in a forgotten corner of the world,

the hills and the trees our only witness.

Miles away from the ghostly city,

our whispers and tender oaths were heard

by no one, carried on a swift wind.

 

And yet, when I close my eyes, I am taken

to the hallowed darkness of my back seat.

You moan beneath my touch, uttering

vows so sincere, so passionate.

Tears mingle with sweat on your cheek, and

your breath stirs against my bare skin.

Your hands warm me and hold me so fast –––

I believe, for an instant,

that you’ll never let go.

 

But strength leaves your body in waves;

the moment slips away, slowly, quietly.

I start the car up, and we leave this place.

Country roads wind out of our hidden home,

leading you back to college – land of exotic

thrills, dangers…temptations.

This is your place of chosen exile.

Home is where the heart is, and mine is always with you.

But I am unwelcome to you now.

I am homeless.

And so, alone, I wander the streets of my ghostly city.

 

Where do you go when the roads you know

don't lead where they used to?

 

 

Author's Note

Not sure if I like "Where do you go..." as an ending or not. It's a phrase I came up with years ago, and haven't had the chance to use until now. Should I keep it, or should I end on "And so, alone, I wander the streets of my ghostly city"?