Second Chance Ticket by Hamza

I was cleaning out the closet we used to share

Boxes I never had the heart to throw away

Dust on the sleeves of a jacket you once borrowed

And something fell out when I lifted it to the light

Two thin pieces of paper,

soft at the edges

Like they’d been held too many times in shaking hands The ink

was faded but I could still read it clear 9:40 PM,

Platform 7, tonight Your name printed right under mine Maya Five years

and four months since I last said it out loud Five years

of pretending I didn’t keep your sweater Five years of birthdays I

didn’t text you on And here you are again,

in a ticket I never bought

I should’ve let it burn in the trash can Should’ve walked past

the station like I do every night But my feet had other

plans And my heart remembered the way your laugh sounded When we

were young and stupid and sure We’ve got a second chance ticket

Torn at the corners,

creased down the middle But the train still stops for people like

us The ones who messed it up and came back anyway No

promises written on the back

No guarantee this time will be different Just two seats,

side by side, in the dark And a chance to say the

things we didn’t

Baby, is this our second chance ticket?

‘Cause I’ve been waiting on this platform Watching every train go by

Hoping one of them would bring you back to me The rain

started right at 9:30

Like the city knew I needed an excuse to cry

I stood under the awning with my hands in my pockets Trying

to look like I wasn’t waiting for anyone

And then the doors opened with that old metal sound And there

you were

Same messy bun, same way you bite your lip

When you’re nervous and trying not to show it You were holding

a ticket too My name on it,

in handwriting I’d know anywhere

We didn’t speak for a long time Just stood there while people

pushed past us Both of us pretending this wasn’t the moment We’d

replayed in our heads a thousand nights

I don’t need forever tonight I don’t need apologies or explanations I

don’t need to know where this goes I just need this moment

The sound of the wheels on the track Your shoulder almost touching

mine The way you’re not looking at me But you’re not looking

away either If we crash,

we crash together If we heal,

we heal slow I’ve carried your name for five years Like a

ticket I was too scared to use Tonight I’m not scared anymore

Say something

Say anything

Say you remember the roof in August Say you remember my bad

jokes Say

you remember why we were good Even when we were bad at

it

Say the word that makes this real

Say stay

Say try

Say me

We’ve got a second chance ticket

And