Youth Rally

Remember those out of state bus trips we took
With our church group when we were fourteen?
Photographing memories of gossip and billboards
and all of the stops in between
Following orders from grown-ups who thought
what felt right to us must be wrong
But when they turned their backs
We sat hand in hand
Quietly humming our song

And maybe it was only a stage -
A bittersweet heartbreak called “coming of age” -
Well that might be what you’re telling yourself
But I’m thanking God for those days!
(Maybe you just liked getting away...)

But I remember, on the way home from that youth rally,
We were

Lost in the contrast of the black of the ground
and the blood-red of the evening sky
Everything was new, we felt a relief
And didn’t bother to ask ourselves why
Our heads to the window with innocent hopes
That that day would never die
We stared off into what was left of the sun
Until it started burning our eyes

It was silence all the way back
Your hand on my thigh ‘til the sky turned black
Didn’t know if I’d ever see you again
Didn’t think this is how you’d react

(Another one-sided memory...)