Ballad of the Midnight Skaters

POEM BY ERIC CEJA RUIZ

ILLUSTRATION BY JO

Moving through the dark, Skating past midnight, We’re not really thinking twice, When the moon is shining bright.

We were just 17, Our getaways were always clean. Nights skating in the dark, Taking hits at the park. Now our legs are all bruised up, But I haven’t had enough.

Running to the house up the hill, Where we jump through your windowsill.

Melodies filling the dim room, As the needle on your record player pokes in between the grooves. We became stars who began to bloom.

You grab your guitar and strum your strings. Your shadow is all I can see As the sun rises for the spring.

You started singing about all the things That ever made us loving beings.

I borrowed your melody, you borrowed my pen. We were creating worlds with a piano and pen from the side of your bed.

You turned your riffs blue as I wrote poems for you.

We became our own stars, But even the brightest burn apart.

Seems like a night later, we turned 19. I was ready to perform my piece, But you were nowhere to be found. You were gone, and I had to come to peace.

I spend my nights skating alone

Past midnight, hoping you come back home.