such is life (a poem in its own right)

I was given
a ticket
to Texas,
but I couldn't
get on
the plane.
My heart
was drowned
in Erie.
My body
still catches
at the thought
of his growl,
and this is
the sob
beneath.
Do you ever
think of me?
But you did
bring out
the
pieces.
The war (and
the surrender)
inside.
And if I hadn't
been so strange,
I might have heard
"How on earth."
"How on earth."
more often.
I'd always
want you
close.
Oh, maybe
just come
close.