where you cannot go

there are some places they go that you can't
back turned, faced away, facing something else.
this isn't for you.

there are some places they go that you can't
no matter how much you want to go with them;
hug them when silence is the only response.

there are some places they go that you can't;
some interminable roads they must go down,
endlessly plodding, one foot in front of the other.

there are some places they go that you can't
it takes extra effort to smile or squeeze your hand as they send you away;
you don't have any special claim to this time.

there are some places they go that you can't

there is a person you love who you do not know

shaped by the contours of a life you have not seen.

there are some places they go that you can't

not even in your dreams

go there and you'll lose them even deeper in that crowd of faceless masks.

there are some places they go that you can't
while you are alone for a minute, aware of their presence in the next room
they are a space drifter, suspended in the expanse.