the light turned red

and they ran ahead of me

laughing

as they slipped into tomorrow

no one looked back and they ran

while my heels were still glued to the curb

while I waited at the light for eternity

racing past midnight

they sank out of sight

the gap between us growing wider until

the light turned green

and I ran, too

chasing after them

even though they wouldn’t stop

and then the light turned red again and

catching up was out of the question.