One Year Later

i’m back at the bar
at the end of my street
it’s been over a year
since i had someone to meet
all around smiles
and hollers and shouts
after a year of all-in
the town is going all-out
i sit with my friend
and we take it all in
we soak in the moment
until he begins
tell me of everything
what you made of the year
tell me your story
to enjoy with this beer
i look up from the table
and laugh a reply
if it’s a story you seek
i can certainly try
i started writing a book
and adopted a cat
then i learned how to knit
so i could make her a hat
i explored psychedelics
and the meaning of life
then scoured the internet
in search of a wife
i figured out cooking
and mastered the crock
and when i get lonely
i talk to my clock
he grows a grin slowly
while sipping his ale
and says holy moly
now that is a tale
i laugh and say please
i can’t be alone
tell me your story
a tale of your own
well i learned how to sail
and then sunk my ship
i lost four years progress
as i’m back to the drip
i played with some stocks
and made a few bucks
been fighting depression
so that really sucks
found Julie was cheating
and she gutted my space
but since she moved out
i’m in a much better place
i sigh and reply
that sounds like a lot
and he says with a grumble
while downing a shot
i’d surely be lying
if i said it was not
the evening proceeds
as we continue our chat
while my mind wanders off
from the place that i sat
i ponder the ocean of time
in which we all swim
with currents of change
that can drown on a whim
it holds our attention
with it’s storms that enthrall
as it rips us apart
like this most recent squall
some of us float
and some of us sink
after our boat named Control
sails over the brink
picking up speed
to smash on the rocks
every man for himself
far away from the docks
but i’m sucked back to the moment
as my friend hangs up the phone
looking excited
he says it was Joan
there’s a bash in the strip
if i care to attend
but i reply with a frown
not today my old friend
i’ve had enough of this all
enough fun for one night
i want to get home
and lay down to write
he says things have changed
as his head tilts to the side
the guy i once knew
well it seems he has died
i say i guess that is true
i'm as dead as can be
so when you get to the strip
drink in remembrance of me
he laughs and replies
as much as we tried
after a year in the dark
i think a part of all of us died
i say you're certainly right
but thanks for this all
it's been a good night
and i’ll give you a call
on my way out
i pass by my seat
the place year ago me
sat with no one to meet
the place i would cry
as i hide from myself
making love to the whiskey
lined up on the shelf
i’d drink myself numb
then stumble to bed
with my life on repeat
till i drank myself dead
but as i enter my house
i recall with a smile
that that year ago me
has been gone for a while
i put my wallet away
and walk up the hall
and as i turn into my room
i hear a voice on the wall
sir you’ve only been gone
for hardly a tick
for your first big night out
it sure ended quick
i take a moment to think
as i delay for a tock
before i gather my thoughts
and say up to the clock
it was time to come back
to the place i'm alone
it was time to come home
to this life that i’ve known
a life i’ve learned to enjoy
after a year on my own
i hop in the shower
and ponder what lies ahead
while the tunes from the bar
dance around in my head
then after my wash
i sit down to dry
and my soft fuzzball Frankie
curls up on my thigh
so i say to her frankly
this last year was a ride
a year of not many laughs
and a whole lot more cries
but if there’s anything at all
any good thing that it’s taught
and my voice trails off
and Frankie gives me a look
i don’t have a clue
not a clue what it brought
maybe it taught us of patience
and of who really cares
maybe it taught us of mourning
and living through tears
maybe it taught us what matters
and what’s deep inside
maybe it taught us of nothing
with no truths it could share
if you’re asking me
asking what this lesson may be
well unfortunately
there’s just not one i see
so one whole year later
that’s all that i got
one whole year to reflect
and not a clue what it taught
so i flip open my book
and lie back with a sigh
but before i fall flat
Frankie catches my eye
and as i give her a pat
she purrs with a grin
life isn’t a lesson
it’s just moments you’re in
if you’re asking me
asking the fat cat on your lap
if you’re asking me
i’d say it was nothing but that