Passenger Seat
Three seventeen. Still driving.
Passenger seat's empty.
I know that. ...
I know that.
Dashboard blue,
highway black
Passed that same sign—wait,
no, scratch that Probably tired,
been up too long
Radio off but I swear that's a song No.
Tires.
Just tires.
Keep your eyes forward.
Phone face-down in the cupholder
Whole car cold but my neck getting warmer
Talking to myself just to stay alert
Then I hear—
“You always leave when it starts to hurt.” ...
Cute.
Real funny.
That's my own head,
I know how this works Sleep deprivation making memories worse
So why'd that voice use the words that she used?
Why'd it pause where she paused when she knew I was through?
Don't look right.
There's nobody there.
Look right.
Empty chair.
See?
Good.
Now drive. Then the seatbelt buckle clicks one time.
Nobody riding with me
Nobody sitting there
So why do I keep hearing
Old voices in the air?
I left the house
I left the town
Funny how the ones you run from Still know how to track
you down
Now everybody wanna speak at once Old friends,
old love, every bridge I burned
“Could've done better”—yeah, heard that before “Could've stayed longer”—what the fuck for?
“You blame everybody.” No,
I don't.
“You blamed them.”
Okay, maybe some.
“You know what you did.” What did I do?
... Don't answer that.
Keep driving.
Now the thoughts get tangled,
memories scramble Every little angle becoming a panel A courtroom packed in
the back of my skull With a judge that looks like me
calling everyone guilty Replaying the statement,
changing the placement Faces replacing the faces I'm facing Trying to erase
it, racing the pavement Like distance can somehow rewrite what I'm saying
Breathe. Slow.
White line. Yellow line.
Mirror.
Road. Passenger—
Don't.
“You can't outrun yourself.”
... I didn't say that.
Did I?
Pull to the shoulder
Hazards blink red Hands on the wheel
Head down, no breath Look at the seat Nothing
Of course
Nothing was there
And that's when it lands
Every voice I heard tonight
Had one thing in common They all knew things Only I knew.
Engine running.
Hazards clicking. Tick. Tick.
Tick. I whisper,
“Leave me alone.”
And my own voice whispers back—
“You first.”