Prologue to Eyes on the Road

What I did not say

What I can never say

Is what I long to say the most

That I sense and imagine life

A parallel life running alongside this one

Like a brightly lit train carriage at dusk on a summer's evening

That momentarily adjusts its speed to travel alongside you

In which you witness arguments being lost and won

Phones being answered, crosswords being puzzled

Music being heard, gum being chewed, books being read

Promises being made and kept and broken

A kaleidoscope of vibrant lives throbbing in all their infinite glorious variety

In that brief moment, I see a vision of my parallel life

My life to be lived, not even to be entertained

And I grieve for it

The train not taken

As our tracks diverge and all the possibilities dissolve

Into the inky richness of a summer's night