9 Miles

I'm sorry that we had to share those 9 miles,
I'm sorry we couldn't talk,
That I couldn't listen,
I'm only sorry because you were in the back of the ambulance,
And I was forced to stare at and into the ambulance,
It was a traffic jam,

I'm sorry for whatever reason you ended up in there,
There's never a good ambulance trip as far as I can tell,
You kept staring out the window,
I kept trying not to stare at you,
Trying not to wonder who you were,
Why you were there,
And really really hoping I wasn't watching someone expire because of traffic,

We were stuck in that jam,
Together,
With the EMT just trying to do his job next to you,
It was weird,
Deeply intimate,
No context,
I'll never see you again,
Sharing those moments with you while I was just trying to get home,
It put traffic into perspective in a way never thought could happen,
I wanted to get home,
You wanted to make sure you were okay,
Going to be okay,
You had a desperation to you that slammed me into my seat,
As if now was too soon,

And you and I both said with our eyes,
Not like this,
Not in traffic,
My mother agrees with us,
Anywhere but stuck in traffic,
That's not a good story for anyone,

I got off the freeway awkwardly,
Solemnly,
Because suddenly my hour long commute didn't seem so bad,
Everything is way more fragile than you think,
I forget that really easily,
So while I am sorry for the circumstances we met,
I thank you, for the perspective,
I hope they can make it work,
Whatever it is that isn't working,

Traffic sucks,
But I'm certain it sucks way more your way,
Today, on a Monday,
Hopefully you get to see plenty more traffic jams,
Along with all the life that happens in between.

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