You were prepared —
You had practised the moves,
rehearsed the scene.
First,
you would offer to hang her coat.
Then,
invoke a resemblance to Ava,
dark chestnut on apricot cream.
At some point,
you would light her cigarette
and she would understand,
as you accidentally brushed her hand,
that this was simply an invitation
to have coffee,
to forget her exam,
to miss her bus,
to depart her world,
to get on a boat,
to carry your name,
to live and die
on a twilight train
circling a blessed forsaken land.
But you were prepared,
and you knew,
somehow
you just knew,
that she would understand.