Behind closed curtains

On a bleak winter night

She plays the old rhythm and blues

While she dreams of her muse

And relives the heights

-The heights

That he took her too

 

Swinging and swaying

She imagines him saying

My love, it was always you

 

Caught in mid twirl

She remembers the girl

-The girl

That she used to be

Her mind becomes frozen

On the moment he said

It is you that I love

-Just thee

 

With the change of the track

Her thoughts are released

Bringing her back

-Back to reality

Her eyes search the shadows

For the man

-The man

That he used to be

 

But that man is dead

He’s not coming back

All that remains

Is his haunting tune

 

The record is scratched

Just like her it is stuck

Discordant cackles

Echo throughout the room

 

In the throes of her sadness

She touches on madness

But there’s something

That calls her back

 

A moment of clarity

Reminds her

It was his insanity

That bought her here

Into a climate of fear

- she has shed

Too many tears

 

So she picks up the phone

Speaks to friends of her own

And suddenly all becomes

Clear

 

Let’s chuck this old record

We’ll play some new sounds

Drink whisky and wine

Dance til the dawn

We promise

-By morning

All will be fine

 

You were too good

For him

You were bound not to win

I never liked him

Couldn’t see what you saw in

Him

 

Music and voices

Whisky and wine

Blurs into an echoed rhyme

Melancholic rejoices

Of well thought out

Choices

But why did you take

So much time!

 

By dawn the voices

Have faded

And she is left

Jaded

Alone with her sadness

Alone

 

So much love

Had she given

All the hopes

She has hidden

All she has

Are her memories of him

-At his best

 

Those thoughts are now secret

She wraps them in silk

And buries them

In her memory chest

 

She takes her guitar

And taps a new beat

Until she believes it

With her own two feet

Now the curtains are open

The sun filters through

She no longer plays

The rhythm and blues.

 

C.K. 22