Trafficking in recollections trading neon nights for bygone days. From ceiling lights to humming street signs sealed records come untied.
Another time far from perfection close enough for mapping smiles, covering miles and chasing laughs out of throats and into corner booths. Grabbing coats, it's back out into night, sleeves shining tables the moment we go, then arms entwining. Voices warmed, we sang together
"...seemed so brief but it wasn't / Now I know I had plenty of time..." (Weakerthans)
When was it we went out walking, bundled up through Winnipeg? Easter Break? Or January, drifting, chilled through wind or meltwash?
Calendars defy me now, though every night recall the time, the place, the lights of Your Great City flashing off your coffee eyes and through the heavy, falling snowflakes on a Spring or Winter night.
I'm traffic on chilly sidewalks trading CO2 for oxygen. No cars disturb the late night silence, shallow breaths or slow footsteps.
And, as I walk against the signal, late October snow obscures street signs, dulling laughs from doors of the bars and late night coffee haunts. Seems so far to my small West Side home. Heels hitting pavement and face turned to stars, arms hanging downward, my voice, drowned mouths words, half-quiet
"...dusk comes on and I follow / the exhaust from memory up to the end..." (Weakerthans)
Excerpt(s) Citation:
The Weakerthans. "Civil Twilight." Reunion Tour. Anti-, 2007. Various Formats.