Are you OK?
Can you stay with me?
It's warm enough, we can sit outside
there's no breeze, the air is still
The gold of twilight makes everything warmer
Carly might come through
Let's wait here on the steps
It's good to slow down, to sit
to breathe
We're going to be OK, Roxy
However we come through it
we're going to be OK
(tram stops, exhales)
(inhales, goes)
Oh yeah, Jim called
said they're getting into it later
Maybe it'll be like last time
Remember how that day started?
The train station, late again
And thank god
How could you have known
later that night you'd fall in love?
Do you ever really see it coming?
But it happens, doesn't it...
Ha! You're too kind
It's too late for me
but you're a catch
Oh hey,
there's Carly, over there, on the phone
I'm going to have another beer
She said she's bringing wine
When was the last time you saw each other?
She said she didn't remember
Maybe Kal's party
You remember Kal's party?
Down at the beach last summer
(commuters in the transit hub)
(insects, too)
Where's that music coming from?
Oh, that guy by the fountain
Look at him dance
We used to be like that
Hey Carly! Get off the phone!
She's always on the phone…
You feel like dancing, Roxy?
I could dance with you
Fuck it
Dude rode off anyway
Look at that one
In the black coat
And the old timey hat
I could never pull that off
You think I could pull that off?
The coat and the hat get-up?
Guy looks like he was born that way
(guy smoking)
(the ciggie is a delicacy)
Hard to believe it's only been a week…
Fuck me, for bringing it up
I said I wouldn't… but damn…
Still can't make sense of it...
I know, I said I wouldn't bring it up
Bet a tenner she gets off that call
and takes off, fucking Carly
Maybe she'll leave the wine
Honestly, I didn't mean to bring it up...
(silence, but city song)
How about tomorrow I get my old man's car
We'll ride down to the lake
make Tom take us out on the boat
Better than sitting around
except sitting here, now, is pretty good
(Carly turns away)
(bottom of the stairs)
(tough call, leave it)
I just got a chill. you OK?
If you want my jacket…
It's OK, I can know it's cold
without being cold
See that gal in the blue skirt?
with the white rose, yeah
Man, isn't she just the picture of happiness?
You see a woman like that
it's hard to imagine her sad
(it's a feeling that creeps in)
(it's like scentless honey)
(or what remains after you think about the river)
(nothing much adding up to nothing much)
I'm writing this long after you're gone
you know? I hope you know
I hope you're with me in this damp cellar
but I don't want to trick your spirit
I was never that cruel
Maybe you're the scentless honey
Yes, that must be it
Because you're still with me, spreading
Because the best part of you is gone
Others have come along
but eventually they notice
What is it they always say?
You're so in love with being alone
But they don't know
I'm just leaving room for you
to not be gone
If you ever came back, and there was no space…
(heart turns to ash)
(heart blows in the twilight breeze)
This is what's become of me, Roxy
Years later, after that September evening
in Moszkva tér, when Carly brought the wine
and somehow I came back looking for you
I want to be drunk, blind drunk
but it won't happen
It's a miserable warped mirror
drunkenness now
But if my wife walked around the corner
I wonder what she would look like
I wonder if she'd like what I look like
That's a steeper hill to climb these days, ha!
There's something to be said for dying beautiful
I should have bottled up your essence
filled a vial to wear around my neck
Of course, it wasn't mine to bottle
but if I had
and I could only open it once
right now just might be that moment
