On My Way Home Poem by RIC BASTASA

this time
the stereo is turned off
i hear my own breathing
the sole music on my
journey back
home

every heartbeat
speaks of
home,
the road gets narrower
side streets become
a hazy line
trees are not trees
and lights are
dimmer
on a sky without stars

i want to hear
what silence wants to tell me
about words that i have
left unsaid
because they are too
painful

this time i breathe
my own soul
this time it owns me
closer to
the letters of my
conscience

all i want is to be home
again
with nobody.