Xerox Of Her Hand

(back)                                                                                             (listen / download)

It started out the way you might expect
How any two young lovers have begun
A single night of laughter on the second story stairs
The aches and pains of adolescent fun

And everything was spinning at all once
When morning came around it was a blur
She didn’t miss a beat as she was walking out the door
Looked back to say let’s stay the way we were

If you’re innocent take heart because the names have all been changed
We’re safe and sound anonymous and free
But none of us escape without a lesson here or there
Oh nobody was more surprised than me

The letters we were writing every week
From south of San Diego to Spokane
Between our distant doorsteps all the envelopes and stamps
We kept the postal service in demand

Her shopping list from Sunday afternoon
My uncle’s favorite book on watching birds
A turkey drawn in Sharpie on a xerox of her hand
Nothing we could share was too absurd

If you’re innocent take heart because
the names have all been changed
We’re safe and sound anonymous and free
But none of us escape without
a lesson here or there
Oh nobody was more surprised than me

I can’t remember which of us or when
Eventually one letter was the last
My memory is hazy of those days so long ago
And she feels like a postcard from my past

But every year as autumn falls around
I open up my shoebox from Spokane
Thanksgiving Day is best when the dinner table’s dressed
With a turkey and a xerox of her hand

 - October 2017 -