Remember when we screamed together, baby? Smeared like ink across blank pages, leaving imprints of our souls.

Remember how our breath twisted into the cold night air, leaving clouds behind, miniature rain storms on our own fucked up horizons.

And when you grabbed my wrist in a panicked way, leaving your fingertips in my skin, like fresh foot prints in the soiled snow,

I felt no pity for your sunken, broken heart. Wishing you would disappear into the darkness.

But you came back, like a haunting of my mind, never ceasing to hide in corners, in shadows, and stranger’s smiles.

And when finally, I had rid myself of your stain, your scent, your ugly, twisted hate; still you stayed.

Tell me it was love, baby. Carve it in your skin, spill it from your lips, poisonous.

Lie to me, viper. Sing me lullabies of horror stories. Tell me fairy tales of war.

Sing, baby. So I can watch you drown in your words before I run away.

Before I take to the wind and realize that you were never worth a single wasted breath.

Before I set myself free, baby.

Before I’m gone.

In stolen moments before sleep, I replay memories of who we used to be.

Children laughing in the car, freedom on our fingertips and love on our lips,

We rode down highways together, our broken hearts in the backseat. Forgotten for the moment.

I watch as we raised our voices above the shitty speakers, as we screamed lyrics to songs that will always be a part of us.

And we waved at the passing cars, not pausing for breath. Not missing a beat. 

We were invincible, at least for a few stunning hours on a quiet highway with no place to sleep that night.

But memories, as they always do, turn to sadness as I recall driving home alone. No copilot in the passenger seat, with only cigarettes and a scratched CD for company.

It is this, our last great adventure, that hurts me now. I knew that things would change soon. We spoke of leaving our towns and finding our own way. And I knew that your way was much different than mine.

Because I needed out of the stifling town that threatened to swallow me whole, and you heard the wind calling to your gypsy soul. I needed a life elsewhere. You needed a life everywhere.

And so I left you behind, wishing to God I could have convinced myself to stay. But it was too much. And now I think of our adventures before I fall asleep. Smiling in the dark.

And hoping one day the wind will bring you my way again.