in the late afternoon
when you look out the window
from a room in a hotel
when you are driving home
and you look through your windshield
when you are a girl
made to undress
when you are a man
made to do work you despise
in the late afternoon
when you’re driving home
and you see clouds like lilac smoke
when you are a girl
gathering up your clothes
and you look out the window
in the late afternoon
when you are a man
or a girl apart
and the sky is blue
like an old ball gown
it isn’t love
but it breaks your heart for a moment.