take the escalator

escaping from the train
i landed on the
platform
facing an old girlfriend
her glazed
expression
gave me an out

faced with
immediate decision making anxiety
do i talk or run for the
tunnels
i ran for the tunnels

it had only
been a brief liaison
a summer of unfulfillment
i was
young and full of it
and it remained within me
as she
remained chaste

and then the autumn
term
returning full of hope
only to see her

dancing
without me
and smiling
too

and that bitter smile
upon the lips of
an old friend
who is now dead
i fled that
dance
drowned my sorrows elsewhere

all this
flooded back to me
in the millisecond i had
to meet
and greet

i chose the escalator
it didn't
let me down
carried me out into the early
morning
light

and meeting anyone
with
morning face
is never a good idea