hurtling through the darkness, the enigmatic shapes
of commonplace objects- road signs, tree trunks, long grass
lurking in the charcoal grey of the night, perhaps illuminated
in a flash of the headlights, then gone
falling away as if they were on a river's shore and we,
the two of us
are cocooned in a raft, pulled by a current that takes us everywhere
on a strange circuitous voyage to all places
except the one place we'd enjoy most
I am content to lie back and watch, listening
to the cadence of your voice, the ripples
our words make in the air between us, the sigh
of the engine as it pulls us along, music
circling round, forming eddies and pockets of silence
into which conversation falls
the faint light of the dashboard creates highlights and shadows on your face
that shift with each movement of your head, your mouth
I could stay here, in this in-between place, with you forever
if only it weren't for the cold harsh realities
of distance
and time