Hilltop Scene

For David Lynch

As you spoke
I listened so carefully
I could see the words hung
between us, suspended
in the night’s cold air

and I thought for a moment
they might always be there.
But then, below on the switch-
backed road, a car struggling
up toward us --- its lights

sweeping first left, then right,
erasing the letters of your words.
Next I could not hear you
over the rattle of its engine.
Next, passenger door ajar.