north carolina

The sky is overcast and gray today

It reminds me of home, I’m not supposed to go home

till tomorrow. I grimace at the sight.

I hate this weather. Wet, and cold and dark.

So much for living in North Carolina I try to say

under my breath. The air is swept away by the wind.

No sound comes out, but I laugh to myself anyways.

Her car comes to an aggressive halt on the street in front of me

She has to reach over and manually unlock the door but

her smile never wavers. My backpack flies in and water spills

but she does not care.

Music already blasting she is down the street before

I can close the door. Mindlessly I tuck

the belt behind my body and take off my coat.

Her car is a sauna and I love it.

She is North Carolina. She is the sun I miss.

She’s making her drive home to Raleigh this afternoon.

A quick drive she describes to me,

and she’ll be home before she knows it.

The drive to breakfast is more difficult than her drive home.

She knows the area well, she’s a natural.

We get to the deli fast and easily.
She probably wants to get on the road soon.

I order two of the same thing as she

picks a place to sit. Every table looks the exact same

I wouldn’t have picked the table she chose.

We discuss the semester and all our favorite moments,

my first real semester, her memories of the last two

years filling her head as well.

I won’t see her for over a year.

She’ll be in Copenhagen this spring,

me in Florence next fall.

Both having new experiences, both growing.

I fear we will be different people in a year’s time.

What new things will I know, what new opinions

will I have? I hope she still wants

to be my friend in a year.

I hope she still drives the car she has to manually unlock,

the car whose sound and heat are cranked up,

whose windows are operated by a crank.

We finish our breakfast and say our

goodbyes outside my place.

I wave as she drives away.
I wonder what the weather is like in Copenhagen?