I hid myself away in the bathroom

of a rest stop

somewhere between Washington and Oregon

as though I was a stow away

on the sinking ship that is life.

Who was I hiding from?

No one

unless you want to count myself.

Why?

So I could go one second without predicting my next move.

I had on a black dress

and beneath

my skin glistened

and glimmered

against my high heels

and the necklace

that once belonged to my grandmother.

The mirror was a dagger

sharp enough to kill

so I stayed away.

Their was a girl

younger then me

fixated on herself

her lips

her eyes

her hair

wanting to change it all.

She asked my opinion

and I said that she was to young for such talk

she turned

and gave me the finger.

Their was a little boy

rosy

and strange to my eyes.

How old was he?

six-

sixteen-

I don't think that even he could tell me.

His mother

a waitress

(I could tell by her clothes)

was crying slightly

and huffing on a cigarette

as though it were a lover

lost

or new again

each breath was a caress

that helped to ease her tears

I didn't speak this time.

Inside the stall

I listened to the noises

the cars outside

the hard zipping sound of the girl closing up her bags of makeup

and the woman

crying

beside the lips of her cigarette.

Against the door

etched were the words

"Natalie and Jacob!"

It made me think of another Jacob that I had known

but then nothing.

Nothing

but

who were these people

and why had they chosen this place

to cement their undying love for each other.

Its a simple notion

but why

and when.

Had it been years sense their hands had touched these walls

or only days.

I became obsessed with them

everything else blocked out.

In silence

their is only the

when

and

why.