snohomish, wa.

the bridge was train tracks
stretched across a river
beyond a fence
we could have climbed
we should have climbed
we didn't climb
that day.
we swore with bitter breath
the next we would.
we never did.
not because
we didn't want to be a cliche
like the movies -
because that stand by me nostalgia
makes my bones break still -
but because
we never made it back
and time ran out
like coal and steam and train tracks
that stretch across a river
beyond a fence
behind a tattered sign with peeling paint
that says 'no trespassing'
as waves lap hungrily below
and ghost trains speed across in fury
as decades pass in minutes
and seconds turn to years.
i never even took a fucking photo.