Unspoken Poem by Phillip Erb

Did I happen to mention in passing the first time I left you
Why I had to get in the car and drive down the road without
Stopping until I could no longer see the shore in the rearview?
Must have been a damn good reason, I’m certain - though
I admit thinking back finds an empty dusty drawer,
Overrun by hungry spiders and their empty cobwebs,
Successfully entrapping dust bunnies of hollow memory
Certainly, the reason’s power and righteousness
Appeared plain and self-evident at the time.
Must have been a damn good reason, I’m sure - after all,
I traded my brothers and sisters, my friends, for a vast
Assortment of one-dimensional acquaintances;
The obverse smiles, nods, and sometimes waves,
Before me they disappear like paper until I see the reverse
Their eyes dart around my perch fogged in blue
Cigarette smoke.