There's Always Something in Philadelphia

This next poem I want to share is one I wrote after a long trip and a longer West Philly night spent with my best friend from home. I was traveling home for a bit and managed to get a ride to Harrisburg to catch a 9:30 bus. The bus of course was late (Damn you MegaBus) it finally arrived at 10:45, I chain smoked and yelled at whomever was unfortunate enough to answer my calls until then. Finally on the bus we arrived at our destination Philadelphia at around 1 in the morning. My hopes of catching a train towards home were dashed for the night. My buddy who works at a restaurant downtown in West Philly said I could crash on his couch and told me to come to the bars. I walked twenty blocks bag in hand  to meet him at a dive bar with some of his co-workers. I downed two drinks in about 20 seconds there and then it was last call. He said not to worry we went to an even shadier bar and drank till four in the morning. We went back with a friend we met and drank till six. All in all it turned out to be a pretty good night with many stories to be told.

The Night Shift

I head out around sunset
To get the vices for the night
Smokes and booze
Whatever I can afford

To help me get through the
Second day of the day
I know the math makes no sense
But night and day are just that

And I love nights unconditionally
As I walk back from the vice run
I observe the world
And the world makes sense of my mind

The sky is like a sheet of clouds
Tucking away the polite facade
Of the day to day
Like the ocean wiping away

The sandcastles and sand writings from the day
The messages and meaning that will forever
Forgive the pun
Be lost to the sands of time

The same with the asphalt on the city streets
The loose gravel tumbleweeds
That kick up as streetlights kick on giving way to
The circus like West Philly nights

And tonight the sky sheet
Goes from orange to purple
Slowly turning out the fire of the day
Like getting tucked in

As the lights go out and you get ready for bed
The ocean gently croons with the
Swell of the tides
The sand recedes as the earth falls away

And the biggest of the waves swallow
The last of the sunlight
Long before the sun fully looses the battle for the day
And gives way to the moonlight and

The night urges
That are so readily available
Anyway you turn in the city streets
The neon signs dampened

Only by the loudness of the clothes worn
The louder the clothes the quieter the person
And these are my people, the speak softly type
The old west lives on in these city nights

Before the sun completely retreats below
the trees from my window
There is this little window of bright
Blue sky that runs away too fast like a child afraid of the dark

And I slip out before the window closes
And the sun can give me it's last glowing kiss goodnight
Not because I am afraid but Because
I am like the ocean

The most dangerous creatures
With the most beautiful colors hunt at night
I am here not because they are dangerous
But because they are the most interesting

And every night as I walk the city streets
There is a story to be told
Or better yet to live
A streetlight confession

That is told under lights that burn like interrogation lights
Trying to make us to make me feel bad about our decisions
Poor or otherwise, but with enough booze
And willingness to just live and stop giving a fuck for two seconds

You will be one with the moment
Because nights like these are too few and far between
To be squandered because of fear of this glorious world
Or fear to live life to the fullest each and every moment

As the sun gives my cheeks it's first rosy kiss of the morn
The last cricket chirps it's moonlight sonata
And everything that's gold will stay for at least today
I go to bed with no regrets because I lived

Set List

Arctic Monkeys -- This House is a Circus
 lyrics

Flogging Molly -- Devil's Dance Floor

lyrics

Straylight Run -- Mistakes We Knew We Were Making

I love the late nights more than I can put into words. Drinking or not there is something about seeing the wrong side of sunrise (being up to see it without sleeping) that just makes the day seem special. I have had a dozen or so of these nights so far and each one holds a special place in my heart. Waking up in the mid-afternoon exhausted but feeling like a piece of shit but always with a story to tell. Or a story you are trying to re-collect with the help of your friends if you can't remember it all for one reason or another. To me nights like that make me feel like I am living life to the fullest and not wasting a moment. It's just a time to enjoy every little thing about life. How drunk you are, how cool the breeze is, how good the company is, the music you are listening to, whatever you are doing. Then when you watch the sun come up over the horizon and have your breath taken away by it's beauty it makes even a cynic like me think maybe life isn't so bad. We made it through the night and the sun came up so maybe today will be a good day. Just remember to enjoy the little things in life.

Until next time.....