Alone
Caught up in the mix of an unknown city
Yet it all felt vaguely familiar
As though he’d been there a past life, or in a dream
He wanders aimless

Set adrift from the bus stop
Amongst traffic lights and cops
The sound and lights hit his face like waves
He remains unphased, navigating alleyways
With a strange sense of recollection
As he enters the great divide
Between two scrapers of sky
A cold wind rips through his clothin’
And brings a tear to his eye
Frozen, he shivers from the bitter cold wind
As he pulls his jacket tight and his hood low,
Tugging at the drawstring
He heads for the closest bar and takes a seat
Orders up a cold one and somethin hot to eat
He takes out a book of poems and begins to read
But with his old eyes and with that dull light,
it’s easier to look at that mirror and think
A lone traveler, an artist
Lookin’ for life, love and happiness
In a glass half-full of hardship
And with the words “love and loss”
Inscribed inside his mind, he sighs deep
Closin’ his eyes, all he really needs is sleep

He awoke, noticing the chick on his left, two seats down
Couldn’t be anymore’n 22 at a New York bar, no one around
Somethin’ about the scene was so profound
Yeah, he saw the beauty in the truly broke and low-down
“Hello” he says, “what’s your story”
The chick looked over and said
“I was on my way to Burma-Shave, I just stopped to get some rest”
Not wanting to test the patience of this girl he just met
He looked back into the mirror, when she looked over and said,
“You from around here?”
“Naw, it’s my first day” the man replied
“I just arrived on the greyhound and I’m only stayin’ one night”
“Oh, that’s cool. You here for any particular reason?”
“Not really, I just wanted get away-
Change the scene, catch the breathing”
“Yeah, I know the feelin’
When you just gotta do some soul-searchin’, it’s so urgent
You gotta purge- search Earth for the worth in person
I can assume, as you get older- it only worsens
‘Cause every passing day, I feel the erosion from the whirlwind”

Ya' know at first the man was taken back by that response
He just couldn’t figure out why,
It was kinda like this chick had read his mind
It seemed apparent they shared some sort of other-worldly bond
He couldn’t put his finger on
Almost like they had met at one time
And so he studied her every move, looks, dialect and attitude
Kept asking her questions- grillin’ her, feelin’ her vibe and mood
“Who are you? What’s your story? Where you from? What do you do?”
“I’m a writer with a vision on a mission to find the truth”
Replied the chick with perfect diction while she scribbled on a napkin
The man was so distracted by everything that was happenin’
He didn’t catch the words, but when he looked he could see three
‘Cept it was too dark in the room and far away for him to read
She handed the man the pen, demandin’ the man’s attention-
Said, “Nathan, I know you know me- and you know we’ll meet again”
Like that the girl was gone, the man woke up, pen in his palms
To his left; a napkin, he read it-
"Love and loss"

When you’re out on your own
And you’re travelin’ a road
And you’re never gonna stop
Never gonna go home
No home, not anymore
You ain’t got nowhere to go
You ain’t got no one to hold;
Love and loss

You look into a past
That is shattered and cracked
Scatterin’ years, laughs,
Tears and fears and no cash
Toe-back, shoe-lace ripped,
Brain snapped at stem
Flash back to the when;
Love and loss

Hold back, no, hold tight
The slow draft, the cold night
The show might not proceed
Unknown flight- meet your needs
The foresight cannot see
The light at the end of the tunnel
Troubled, under-
Love and loss

The lonely one, the only one
Who seemed to hold and mend
Was gone a long time ago
I know, I can see you hold it in
And now you’re wishing you could
Befriend the breeze and the wind
Man, you had that dream again;
Love and loss