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 street lights flicker on
 Across the town your mother left behind
 At a bittersweet 16
 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
 And we drank to absent votes
 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
 The chance that you were right