Driving past Smith College always reminds me of what I am not.

I can only imagine what this world of wealth and privilege is like.

The Miss Florence Diner has the best diner sign I've ever seen.

I sat at the end of the counter.

And there she was in my peripheral vision.

A vision of perfection.

She ordered breakfast, but did not eat.

Everything I am not; she is.

Everything I have longed for in my life sitting a few feet away; and a lifetime gone by.

The ghosts of my desire.

Longing never knowing,

Reaching never touching,

Feeling never seeing.

As she left the diner, her spirit brushed against mine. And then it was gone.