when poetry takes over

not only was langston hughes born in february, OUR month, but he wrote the following poem:

i had a friend:
he went away from me
there's nothing left to say
i had a friend:

i remember reading this in my 7th grade textbook for language arts and i have never forgotten it since. the poem is light and gossamer, resting softly on my eyelids. when they flutter open, the poem vanishes, as did my friend.

then there is li po:

Blue mountains lie beyond the north wall;
Round the city's eastern side flows the white water.
Here we part, friend, once forever.
You go ten thousand miles, drifting away
Like an unrooted water-grass.
Oh, the floating clouds and the thoughts of a wanderer!
Oh, the sunset and the longing of an old friend!
We ride away from each other, waving our hands,
While our horses neigh softly, softly . . . .

only this time my horse was on a modern platform in the middle of brussels and his steed was a red and silver train that would take him away from me yet again. how many times can one endure parting of this magnitude? i used to think that airports were the most lonely places in the world, especially when you were the one left behind. today i saw that beautiful modern train stations can be just as stark and lonely, if not more.