From Friday night lights,
to construction sites,
from the king of campus
to new and nameless.

New Job, new town,
on his face he wears a frown,
can't yet drink a beer,
he is young, full of fear.

Covered over with bluster and bravado,
but the truth is, there's no place he can go,
burnt all his bridges on the day he left.
she left for college and left him bereft.

No word, no goodbye, she said it was over,
nothing to do so on he must soldier,
off to a new place to try something new,
he hopes to get passed and pull through.

So skipping college to learn a skill,
walking high iron, adrenaline thrill,
like dodging rushers in the big game,
but no one here knows his name.

And up the ladder of life he goes
making fewer friends and many foes,
but suddenly, from nowhere, a new lover at last
and has unhinged himself from a rocky past.

With gray in his hair and memories full,
on the beach, from a glass, he takes a pull,
the burn of whiskey, and grit of sand,
he looks and grins while holding her hand.