study abroad

I wrote this a long time ago…

Things happened, time passed. There were whole days that went by without you noticing. You would skip class and sit in the McDonalds at the train station. You pretended you were someone else, living somewhere else, arriving from another place, and departing to a place that would save you. You were young, you know. You were nineteen. You were writing down quotes, making your own bible, illustrating the pages with girls sitting alone at cafes, smoking on fountain ledges, lifting glasses to their mouthes at tables and boarding trains with suitcases, hats, and gloves. You ordered another coca light and found your camera missing. You bought cards from a bum, then bought him beer and drank together in a park until dawn. You rode the bus around the city and got off when it made its last stop. You wandered until midnight, lit a cigarette and recited Ungaretti. You met a dark haired boy who studied philosophy and smoked grass. You will carry an unparalleled affection for him the rest of your life.