awake.

the light poured into the slits in her eye lids
like 6000 watts at 2 feet of distance.
there was a strong smell of everything in the air
& her skin could feel the rain that wouldn't fall
for another 3 hours.
her ears rattled & hummed with every inaudible
sound wave that lulls the rest of us to sleep.
she filled her lungs with the fresh air,
felt the residue of foreign words on the tip of her foreign tongue.
she could remember her name but nothing else.
figures of her surroundings hung like shadows
just out of her reach but had no real feeling of presence.
as her eyes focused in the light of day,
she saw a tree & a horse with no rider.
a beach with the ocean retreating from it.
a burning cigarette lay at her side in the sand
next to the outline of a hand that did not quite fir her own.
but she was allone now.
her, the ocean, the tree, the horse.
a way out.
a way home.
a smoke for the ride.
a hand to look back on.