Cold and Alone

I don’t ride in the cold

Because I’ve had to ride in the cold

Past darkened, brooding buildings

Full of oblivious, sleeping people

Past the darkened warehouses

Past the darkened firehouse

The cold cuts me

Traffic lights cycle Green, Yellow, Red

Meaningless. I am the only traffic

A police cruiser idles

Parking lights on

The soft glow of the dash

We are alone together

When I get home

Home to the two decrepit rooms

Fluorescent and linoleum

Tacked to the back of a decrepit house

I will be warm and alone

The girl a few blocks away

The girl that loves me

And another that might

Knowing that she is there

Knowing that I could lay in her arms

I could ride there

I could knock on the door

Then I would be warm and not alone

But I like the cold better

I like being alone better

Cold and loneliness are always there

Cold and loneliness never change their minds

Never look at you and say “we’re just too different”

Glenn Keller