mileage

(photo credit; by Caroline, a friend of mine)

you’ve wasted my time;

you made me dream of magic whenever it wasn’t perfect.

i measured myself in years, then, back when we

drew crooked hearts and stars on a sidewalk with

chalked fingers

remember? you would take my hand and

the distance between our palms would be 

the three weeks between our birthdays

now, i can’t remember if i’m old or young;

when it all started, if it ever started

will it ever end?

i know where you’ve been, now we all smell

like freshly picked strawberries and granola

a laugh, now; then

somebody screaming, maybe

then silence.

i’ve wanted this for so long, this

droning, soft, curved wind, this

inaudible whisper in my left ear.

we wove white petals of magnolia through

each other’s ponytails and 

didn’t care if our fingers got tangled 

in that flyaway mess

and

counted each other’s fingers until 

there were seven on each sweaty, soft 

hand

i’m running now and i don’t know where

this road goes, because i dropped

my compass back in day before

yesterday.  

maybe

i’ll dance when i get there.