When I left you home just now

When I left you home just now

Just a minute ago your head was on my lap,
Your body soft, full, deliciously cool:
Through the warm night which pulsed with life
The car transported a symphony of feeling.

Now the car feels empty, dark and stony like a cave,
The road is a tense black with military white markings,
The traffic light is red and still and unyielding,
The orange streetlights throw taut and strained halos.

And yet the fleeting glimpse of two red hearts
Cheerfully painted on a truck's tailgate,
The tiny beggar girl standing prophet-tall
Through the traffic released from its hot leash,

The youth helping his lady across the busy road
Her clothes briefly billowing white in my lights:
All happily stir and tickle
The memories of my recent smooth contentment.