He didn’t have time for new friends
He didn’t have time for the friends he had
He didn’t have time to talk
To think
To dream
For music, work, sex, or future
Like a religious ascetic on a serpentine esker
Casting wishes off like little stones
Glittering in the sunset
Tumbling and receding
To put it all behind him
To make the end of the ridge
To collapse without comment, thought, of fantasy
He couldn’t wait for peace
He couldn’t wait to fall