Two Hot Coffees

The streetlamp flickers on the quiet corner,

Casting long shadows on the wet concrete.

I pull my scarf up against the chill of midnight,

Walking down the path of our favorite street.

A lone vending machine glows soft and amber,

Humming a tune in the empty night air.

I hold two hot coffees in my trembling fingers,

Turning around, but there's no one there.

If I whisper your name to the passing traffic,

Will the echoes bring back the way we were?

We were written in chalk on the neighborhood asphalt,

Now every memory starts to blur.

The distant signal light blinks green to yellow,

Guiding the cars through the midnight fog.

I’m standing alone on the crosswalk lines,

Lost in the pages of an old prologue.

The convenience store bell plays its usual chime,

A cheerful sound in a world gone grey.

I step inside just to escape the silence,

And count all the things that I couldn't say.

You used to trace constellations on my window,

Pointing out stars that we'd never reach.

So why did you leave me in the quiet dark,

With all of the lessons you didn't teach?

The night rolls on like an endless ocean,

Washing away every trace of our past.

I close my eyes and I try to remember,

How something so bright couldn't ever last.

The morning breeze carries a touch of frost.

I leave one paper cup on the ledge to cool.

Goodbye to the dreams that we used to share...

Standing outside our old high school. (Goodbye...)