Turning Twenty
"Turning Twenty"
There's really only one way to see Grand Avenue:
One in the morning on a rainy night,
Listening to the bands you loved when you were fourteen
Over the car's radio, watching the slick oils
Of traffic lights on the asphault;
The mecca of the urban romantic.
I must have seen Grand this way
Hundreds of times: driving home from Alex's,
Nursing a need for wanderlust,
Hoping a certain girl might be getting off work
And see me drive past. A wave would be fine.
Two years ago, I was driving home in the rain,
Watching Grand slip by and wondering
If it would stay the same,
Hoping to God that it would
And knowing in my heart that it wouldn't.
But tonight doesn't seem so different.
Even if everything else has changed,
including me- especially me-
Though the stores may change, and the people, and the music,
It's still Grand.
Maybe the rain on the concrete is what lasts.
Maybe this is eternity.
-3/11/06
There's really only one way to see Grand Avenue:
One in the morning on a rainy night,
Listening to the bands you loved when you were fourteen
Over the car's radio, watching the slick oils
Of traffic lights on the asphault;
The mecca of the urban romantic.
I must have seen Grand this way
Hundreds of times: driving home from Alex's,
Nursing a need for wanderlust,
Hoping a certain girl might be getting off work
And see me drive past. A wave would be fine.
Two years ago, I was driving home in the rain,
Watching Grand slip by and wondering
If it would stay the same,
Hoping to God that it would
And knowing in my heart that it wouldn't.
But tonight doesn't seem so different.
Even if everything else has changed,
including me- especially me-
Though the stores may change, and the people, and the music,
It's still Grand.
Maybe the rain on the concrete is what lasts.
Maybe this is eternity.
-3/11/06