To Absent Votes

They're packing up the polling booths
And pulling down the posters
As the sun sets on the primary school
And the streetlights flicker on
Across the town your mother left behind
At a bittersweet sixteen
You're trying to convince me
That the government is gone

And you're not one for anecdotes
But remember our delight
As we drank to absent votes
At the chance that you were right

It was a disappointing sunset
Only 'cause my hopes were much too high
We took some beers down to the landlocked jetty
And looked across the lake
At the detritus of election night
In a town without a traffic light
Curling at the edges
Like a pre-loved paperback

And you're not one for anecdotes
But remember our delight
As we drank to absent boats
It was just a perfect night
Then a solitary sail
The softness of the light
The moon a fingernail
The chance that you were right