Classic Poem

We stood at the edge of the crowded bar drinking
amidst the noise of all the trains, all those
who come and go nowhere
She cast shadows within me like coastal trees
illuminated like the transcendental
while present in time.

She asked me who I was
one day she found me a child
and the next a wise man
Who might I be?
At the edge of the bar I was performing an ancient rite
creating two people who depart
while we stayed
two who burn
while we stayed
two that smile
while we wept
She embraced me like tears
she knew that my explosion was near
that the limits of myth were smaller than the bar
that the trains were here
that we were destined to absence
and I knew
that the princess happened only once in life.