A Ride in the Evening

The concepts are all wrong
you, with your fashionable beret
perched lightly on your greasy hair
and me, balking beneath my ball cap.

We finally arrive
even though you thought twice about it
more than once

And there we are
laughing at nothing.
And my Scrabble tiles had to be just so.
I won that way.
Why didn’t you care?

After sunset, riding home on our bicycles,
I made you stay in the grass.
The light – oh, a barely dim force -
could not help you then.
And the road was a far darker gray than you thought.

Didn’t I see you disappear within the lanes?
Didn’t I see you vanish?
Stop! Come onto the grass!
We’re almost home.