The man talks about love. The girl pretends to listen.

Faintly she nods her head, faintly she agrees.

A yes, a please. The car’s tinted window darkens

her view of the outside. A final pull, a final puff.

The cigarette stub is ditched out of the window

and drowns in a puddle of water. The girl darts

her stare at the car’s windshield, the last traces of rain

trickling down like threads of blood.