I catch her in the glass
Just a flicker when the semis pass
A shape of hair a turn of head
A life I didn’t live instead
She’s calm She’s reading maps I’ve never seen
She’s everything that might have been
Between me and the dashed white line
A ghost a maybe a design
My other woman on the passenger side
The one who stayed the one who didn’t hide
The one who got the kiss and not the long goodbye
She lives right there in the corner of my eye
She smiles at a joke I didn’t make
Chooses the path I didn’t take
My other woman made of light and might-have-been…
And she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen
She touches the dashboard soft like it’s a pet
No regret in her silhouette
She’s singing to the radio off-key and loud
A version of me that’s still allowed…
To be messy and sure and young and not so tired of the road
A lighter version of the load
She points at nothing Just a tree
And it’s enough for her For me
My other woman on the passenger side
The one who stays the one who doesn’t hide
The one who takes the exit and the wild sweet ride
She lives right there in the corner of my eye
She laughs at a fear I didn’t beat
Makes the messy life look sweet
My other woman made of choice and chance and grace…
And she’s wearing my own forgotten face
And for a mile I try to be her
To let the simpler braver version stir
To ease my grip to want the now not the then
To let myself begin again
But the wheel is hard The road is real
And she begins to fade to feel…
Like a lesson Like a loss Like a love letter
I wrote forgot and left to blur
My other woman on the passenger side
The one who stays the one who doesn’t hide
The one who takes the exit and the wild sweet ride
She lives right there in the corner of my eye
She laughs at a fear I didn’t beat
Makes the messy life look sweet
My other woman made of choice and chance and grace…
And she’s wearing my own forgotten face
The next rest stop I change the seat
Toss the old cups the wrappers the heat
I look across The space is clean And wide
And empty
Just me And the long long ride
No other woman Just the night
And the mirror getting the reflection right
