This is familiar.
Brown leaves crackle and collapse under cold feet,
shattering the silence of a 1 AM sky.
Shaking, frigid hands burrow past
an old bus pass and some lunch money
toward the warmth of my pocket.
This is familiar.
Brown leaves crackle and collapse under cold feet,
like a record player's needle divining the bumps and grooves
of the songs I used to sing to her.
Shaking, frigid hands gliding on
past nylon guitar strings,
plucking at love,
singing of a false future.
This is familiar.
Brown leaves crackle and collapse under cold feet,
stepping off the unswept stoop into a euphoric
new world of unencumbered affection.
This is familiar.
Brown leaves crackle and collapse under cold feet,
and yet not in quite the same way
as when I first left them.
I have often walked down this street before, yet now I am more complete.
Author notes
This is a personal, reflective interpretation of the song "On the Street Where You Live" from the My Fair Lady soundtrack. If you don't already know, he sings the line, "I have often walked down this street before..." a few different times in the song.
It's about having memories of your past, that used to be sweet, but have soured over time. It's about creating new memories, that are beautiful and fantastic and perfect, and yet, at that same time, revisiting those old memories and wishing they hadn't soured so painfully.
Really, all that is similar to the original song, however, is that line. I completely changed everything else.
I can't help but sing that song in the shower! I don't quite know why, but I do. I love it.
Ever had a painful "deja vu" moment?
Comments
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Skillfully unromantically romantic ...
You did something very interesting here. Using images like shaking, nylons, bumps, grooves, warmth of my pocket, euphoric, etc ... against frigid, plucking, cold feet, dead leaves, etc. creates strong tension between romantic optimism and stark realism. Excellent. Bravo, bravo ... A fine piece.
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