One Night

“Is it good?”
Her voice echoes in my ear
arriving from unknown
city streets
blanketed with snow.
I nod and smile
as any man would do
but her simple words
touch much deeper truths,
for all such moments
reek of the bittersweet —
of a presence
you can never really taste
despite the sharpest
focus.

I offer my goodnight
and call it a day
but the fact remains
that all desires
necessarily
end with pain.
And left alone to ponder
this sobering thought —
I reach
for the light.