tell one soul
Out into the misty wet half-dark, hat scarf headphones on.there's a war inside of me
Down three blocks and then left a block to the main street, past dark windows and lit windows and lovely white icicle lights and the big tacky multicolored bulbs of my childhood.don't get so uptight
don't get so uptight
The Norwegian Saguaro Cactus people have their curtains open and a glass globe lamp in the window, the kind with cabbage roses painted on. The house next door has a cat in the window, loafed on the back of the sofa and looking smug, the way cats inside on wet days generally do.
The chamber of commerce has put up a border of lights around the flag inside the main room; you can see it through the front door. The clock on the tower hangs in the mist like an extra moon. All along the main street, shops have put out small decorated pine trees near the curb; they've hung fresh pine and balsam greenery from all the awnings, and if I walk right underneath I can smell it. Deep breaths. Okay.
and how do you know
when to let go
Inside the pharmacy, the white-haired clerk touches my sleeve to get my attention and raises her eyebrows as she asks if I need help. "No," I say, "I found it."
By the time I pay for the antihistamines and walk back out onto the street it's gone dark. Some of the shops have put up printed or hand-lettered signs in their windows: a few stanzas each of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." I don't think they're quite in order, but I don't remember the poem very well. if you're going downtown
take me with you
The post office has James Baldwin stamps, which makes me happier than I've been in days. Down the hill, the Nevermind Saloon has put up red and blue lights around their signs. The lights kind of match the Milwaukee Old Style sign with the burned-out bulb, but not quite. The curtains at the antique store's basement windows look better from outside and at night; glowing in the backlight they seem clean instead of grubby, lacy instead of tattered.
Around the corner from our house there's a nativity scene in the yard: brightly colored plastic lit from the inside. Baby Jesus is the only one not glowing. Even the tipsy-looking camel leaning against his wise man is glowing. Joseph is wearing hot pink.i know you're scared
even though you say that you're not
Our porchlight is on. I can see the poster on the wall inside the stairwell window. I left the light on over the kitchen sink again. I'm almost home.
Down three blocks and then left a block to the main street, past dark windows and lit windows and lovely white icicle lights and the big tacky multicolored bulbs of my childhood.don't get so uptight
don't get so uptight
The Norwegian Saguaro Cactus people have their curtains open and a glass globe lamp in the window, the kind with cabbage roses painted on. The house next door has a cat in the window, loafed on the back of the sofa and looking smug, the way cats inside on wet days generally do.
The chamber of commerce has put up a border of lights around the flag inside the main room; you can see it through the front door. The clock on the tower hangs in the mist like an extra moon. All along the main street, shops have put out small decorated pine trees near the curb; they've hung fresh pine and balsam greenery from all the awnings, and if I walk right underneath I can smell it. Deep breaths. Okay.
and how do you know
when to let go
Inside the pharmacy, the white-haired clerk touches my sleeve to get my attention and raises her eyebrows as she asks if I need help. "No," I say, "I found it."
By the time I pay for the antihistamines and walk back out onto the street it's gone dark. Some of the shops have put up printed or hand-lettered signs in their windows: a few stanzas each of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." I don't think they're quite in order, but I don't remember the poem very well. if you're going downtown
take me with you
The post office has James Baldwin stamps, which makes me happier than I've been in days. Down the hill, the Nevermind Saloon has put up red and blue lights around their signs. The lights kind of match the Milwaukee Old Style sign with the burned-out bulb, but not quite. The curtains at the antique store's basement windows look better from outside and at night; glowing in the backlight they seem clean instead of grubby, lacy instead of tattered.
Around the corner from our house there's a nativity scene in the yard: brightly colored plastic lit from the inside. Baby Jesus is the only one not glowing. Even the tipsy-looking camel leaning against his wise man is glowing. Joseph is wearing hot pink.i know you're scared
even though you say that you're not
Our porchlight is on. I can see the poster on the wall inside the stairwell window. I left the light on over the kitchen sink again. I'm almost home.