[ID: black text on a white background that reads:

Ode to the cowboy in the passenger seat

You sunkissed collar bone,

boots on the dashboard,

loose thread shoulder patch

you. golden hands flicking

through stations on the radio,

90s rock to top 100 to jazz

to— hey, there’s a red light.

stop before it’s too late, remember?

love him before he’s gone

forever, remember? tug 

a straw hat over your eyes,

conceal yourself in shadows,

or hide in infinite wheat fields,

but keep those eyes covered

since you’ll never feel free again.

bronzed sweeping shoulders,

thundering down hills atop

sleek horseback. your fingers 

gripping mane slipping through

the cracks in your facade. 

sunset awash in the slope

of wrists on steering wheels,

sunset settling on sleep drunk

smiles, sunset in your crooked

front teeth. faded denim

overtop stretched out button-ups,

the cloudless sky against 

battered blue sleeves. throw 

arms to wind, bare your neck,

forehead to burning leather.

drink it in: scuffed heels

against gas station floors,

signs pointing 500km away.

cracked tiles in shitty

motel rooms. life stretches

endlessly ahead, worlds

left behind in rearview mirrors.

the only thing that matters

is your laugh, kissing

the bridge of my nose. 

this, forever.