Southbound (Dru's Poem)

Jennifer Paige©1999

This cup is empty

            Left without you and our coffee mornings

            I fill it up; try to relocate the missing experience

The first sip is the sweetest, but not the same

            Coffee is better when shared with a friend

I sigh quietly then head toward my room

            Seemingly vacant now

            Echoing my heart’s woe

I wanted to pick up a bit, just tidy really

            Organize what you left

            Keep it safe from harm

What I found was enough to bring tears

            Again

Your “chrome” briefcase held your words

            (Shared the night before in the anxious restlessness

            of another sleepless night before a flight

            the next morning)

Words I will cherish more than any others,

            The words of a friend

And the coffee cup refilled should see me

            Through a read

It will be like you’re there

Like an Angel Standing By…

The song played as we drove

To Applebee’s for supper

            Then again returning form the airport

Forlorn, ‘Nando and I read our letters on a road

            As determined and as empty as our hearts

Fresh tears sprang as founts form our eyes

            To ease the pain of your absence,

            The absence of a friend

I folded the paper and looked beyond the windshield to the sky

            I viewed your departure

            From the road there

            A silver bullet southbound in a cloud of dust

More tears as we reached my driveway

            Seeing the empty porch where we consumed

            Caffeine and nicotine those cold November mornings

We watched your plane out of sight

            The pull on our heartstrings became too     

Much to bear and

We collapsed onto awaiting shoulders

            Sturdy enough for our tears

Remembered:

            The night we tried to stay awake all night
                        but failed   

            The moon shone like noonday that

                        Midnight

            Casting our shadows

                        Long and far behind us

            A path we hoped our legacy would follow

            Companioned with words and songs

                        And photographs

            All memories stored,

                        Rendered in the physical realm,

            And kept there for future generations.

You never knew my secret

            The one I never had the guts to tell you

            That night in Ft. Collins after too much rum

You probably figured it out

The words I couldn’t manage

            Even when I had your ear to listen

I love you, in such a way that cannot be,

            The distance will always be too great

But my heart has made room

            For greater love than I though possible

            A lingering fondness, concern

            A fierce need to protect and aid

You’re like a brother, blood

            Blood-brother-friend

I will cherish your caress on my life

            My heart

            My soul

            My friend—

I know that we will be apart long

That first re-embrace too six months too long

            I felt I had entered a dream

            The moment I saw you standing there

            In the doorway of the Tornado

I never thought I would see you again

            Six months and not a single word

            Between us

            I missed you like mad

Who knew you’d be betrayed

            Again

Who would’ve guessed events would

            Strand us together in this Podunk

            Little conservative cow town

            Left to manage on our own

            To fend for ourselves

Now we had each other if no one else

However brief

            But somehow I knew you wouldn’t stay

Something deeper has bonded us this time around

Perhaps the fact that our two best friends

            Deserted us

Again the shared living space

            Dependant on each other

            As confidant

            Companion

            Counselor

And you leave this time with head held high

            Proud of this experience

            For what it’s worth

I, too, am proud

            Glad I could be there to see it

            You, or anyone I know, deserve happiness

I wish I could see the progression through

            To the end

            Up close

But this thread ties us, binds us

We will share each other’s futures

And I know it won’t be too long before

            We are sharing stories again over a

            Coffee morning

            Sweetened with time,

            Love,

            And the two of us together again

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