Leave-taking

Saying goodbye at early dawn is less lonely than saying goodbye at full sunrise
just when glowing street lights warm the cold pavements
and tiptoe in hushed neighborhood corners
this simple surrender to sluggishness wafting
in the air. Brewing quiet thoughts
and sad recollection
like the heartbroken teen singing on the radio
serenading the lonely traveler
at 4 am on a Sunday morning.
In this magnificent city of stars
where Christmas lights gleam through
cab windows

Where a woman standing by the curbside
seems friendlier but just as lost
as the lonely traveler.
Somehow it’s not as bad
to see the full glories and failures of a city
in its bareness.
This is the perfect
memory for leaving
for chasing a new sunrise in
a different city of stars.