I’m smoking a cigarette with the warm-hearted bus boy.
He’s got a Cali-surfer mixed with Greased Lightnin’ vibe
Without the 1970s pep rally pep nor the beach bum laziness…
We’re working in Union Square, 12 hour shifts shuffling between tables
Of oblivious rich New Yorkers and duped tourists drinking
$18 watered-down martinis eating $12 re-heated microwave-crostinis
We smell like the dumpsters on the other side of the playground fence
Where there are children chasing each other lost in their innocence
While the sweat steadily dripping down our aching backs that’re torn from carrying
Bins/trays and he generously passes me the lucky strike pack for another
And we joke about something I can’t remember
My memory’s no good about this depressing blur of time-my-in-life-but-I do
Remember feeling quietly lucky that I was moving steadily, all-bite slowly, towards
Great literature the world had never seen and that him and I were already
Far from these menial jobs, petty bosses, little restaurant conniving dramas
Where many sad souls reconcile themselves to mundane lifetimes and dark mantras
And late-night subway rides on the G with no relief and no sleep
But later, after closing
Surf-Lightnin’ invited me
To Central Park with a Thespian Texan who conveniently had a guitar
And we drank cheap beer from brown paper bags
And shared our own emo chord progressions
Like the silly heartbroken boys we (are) used to be + had ambitious conversations
Cause Cali was going back to Cali soon to be/become a great actor
His fire and certainty were contagious
These small flickering moments for me were bright and kept my
Head tilted towards the expanse of a starless sky
And nothing would stop us we knew we were right
And now I see he’s starring in a Netflix special with Sabrina and witches
While I see over her shoulder a busboy fixing a torn napkin on a table
Sweating by the Seine while I’m being handed a cigarette from a sultry Parisian
Still a long way to go, but Cali and I knew and still know
We wouldn’t stop back then
Remember when
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