To a Crowd of Dusty Trees

 

I was thinking about you, not too long ago.

It must have been that time you wrote to me…

When you said you’d leave the biting winter to go home,

just in time to remember how pretty it could be.

That was the time you were writing your papers,

when you were close to the end of school.

You must have been smiling…

when you said you’d get a new car,

to drive down to the countryside, 

as soon as it was over. 

 

 

Or perhaps it was a little longer before that.

It might have been that time you spoke to me…

When you told me you were going away,

just in time to hide out in the winter,

how pretty I imagined it would be.

That was the time you went away from school,

and you cared not to write your papers.

I remember you smiled…

when you said you were selling your beaten car,

to fly away to a place you once knew, 

and to catch the start of winter.

 

 

And then I almost forgot about you.

Perhaps it was some time too long ago.

Until the day I was told you were gone…

When you were found in your car, not far from home. 

It made me recall that time in school, 

when you laughed at how cold a winter could get,

at a drive down the countryside,

and at the thought of writing your papers.

I remember I smiled…

at the mention of your beaten car,

for it made me imagine life,

and how so pretty it could be.

 

 

So now when I think of you,

in a time I’m certain I could never know,

I’m made to imagine how those days of winter,

had eaten you up inside…

as I imagine your new car,

lying dead off the beaten road.

I heard they found it down the south coast,

so I imagine you were going to your countryside.

I was told it was your birthday,

so I imagine you remembering,

all the places you once knew…

through a fog on the window, to a crowd of dusty trees.

But most strangely I also imagine you, 

with a gas mask over your face…

 

 

Perhaps school was too long a time ago?

Or perhaps I just can’t ever remember you, 

without your smile.