Getting gas in my old hometown
Someone taps my shoulder
And I turn around to see
A familiar smile wrapped in
Wrinkles and silver streaks of hair
My love darling sweet from
1995
We lasted four beautiful months
Promised forevermores
Went weekends without clothes
Made love from sun up to sun down
As young lovers should
Ate
Drank
Laughed
Held hands
‘You’re my man and I’m your woman...’
She was fond of saying
Then it just stopped
We had a beautiful glorious
Summer
Now in front of me a quarter of a century
Later
Time hasn’t been kind to her
And I wonder if she’s saying the same of me
But she leans in to say goodbye
Stars in her eyes
‘It’s good to see you...you look the same’
And gives me one of those squeeze hugs
You get from old lovers you’ve shared
Time with
‘I’ve missed you’
She says
The gas was $17.32 and I’ll never
Go on that side of town
Ever again...

And just like that
Your fire was raging through
Uncontrollably so
Every room in my soul
Searching
Taking
Ravaging
Only to find
A charred heart
That still beats for you...

Just as lovely as I remember...
Erasing a thousand days with it...
Making 46 minutes seem like 2...
This spell you have over me
Will never wilt
Will never know a winter
Will always have a sunrise
Rising from out of an ocean
Your voice
Beautiful woman
Spell over me...

Remember
You’re given 2 or 3
Moments
To shine in a lifetime...
Maybe you’ll get more in the next
But here it’s 2 or 3
Love more than you hate
Agree more than you disagree
But remember you truly only
Love one beautiful
Soul
In this lifetime. Remember that...
You can love and leave
But keep on good terms
Forgive
If you’ve been wronged
For hate can wilt you from
The inside out
A sore that never scabs
A monkey that’ll always lead you around
Notice how people react to you
When you enter a room
How they say goodbye when they know
They’ll never see you again
Never be the slow bullet
Never be the slow bullet
The slow bullet takes
Years
From your life
Decays your days
Tells you everything will work out
I’ll be better
But they never do
Be a dodger of bullets
Most notably the slow one
Even if they’re the one truly
Beautiful soul...

Even when all that is left
Is our sad requisites to each
Other
Even as the earth rotates
Our sad ‘what ifs’ will
Begin to collect dust
Fade with the years
Sand castle
Unfortified
Will crumble into the seas
But before it does
Before time has its inevitable way
Let me take the time to say
I love you...