The Empty Streets

I watched the traffic lights change
from green to yellow to red,
from behind my steering wheel,
from the other side of the glass.
And I drove the empty streets
that reminded me so much of
the empty hallways of your heart;
I guess I knew you weren’t coming back.
So I circled the block once more
hoping maybe we would pass
and I nearly thought we did,
but those weren’t your headlights
that I was staring at.
The slow and steady pulsing
of the biggest small town,
cars passing through lights
like my blood through valves;
missing you is like background noise,
like traffic outside my window at night.
And when I press my head to your chest
to hear the slow and steady pulsing
of your blood circling the block again,
the stars spread out before me
like city lights from atop a hill.