Old songs
still echo down these halls.
No one’s smoked in here
in thirty years,
but I can still smell
the Lucky Strike’s
and Pall Mall’s.
I can still see
folks dressed up
in their uptown best,
and I can hear
the band play those old songs
as if they never left.
I can still taste
bootleg whiskey
like it was yesterday.
I can still feel
the way my tailored suit
fit me perfectly.
I can still remember
the look in your eye
when the band struck up
to play
one of those old songs
and we’d dance the night away.
I can still taste
your kiss,
and smell your perfume.
I can still feel
my eyes get wide,
and my breath catch,
the first time
you walked into this room.
Stepped into my life
like some kind
of gift from God,
and then
one of those old songs
comes on,
and I remember that you’re gone.
This old place
is just an empty shell.
Full of memories
and that old cigarette smell,
but otherwise
it sits empty.
Time for us ghosts to move on.
We’re just echoes,
like the melody
of one of those old songs
singing us home.
DJR – 2023
