Singing swiftly in the dark

left with the memories

We once were young lovers
Skipping through Griffith Park
I picked her a dandelion and watched
Cindy blow all the seeds into the wind
In just one breath

She wore a yellow paisley dress
And her long auburn hair
Swirled seductively in the summer breeze
That August afternoon
We sang Whitney off-key

My Cindy, I'd whisper and make silly faces
Just to hear her lyrical laugh
Her fervor and adoration
Showered over me
And even the trees were jealous of our love

Back in 1988, we had the world at our feet
And made future plans by the overlook
The L.A. skyline offering
Inspiration
For our young and quixotic dreams

While she only had eyes for me
I had competing affections
The brotherhood of the 162
And the thrill of the fire
My other desire

If I could go back in time
And if I would have foreseen the future
I'd have given Cindy the ring I had waiting for her
The one I bought
After our third date

Instead, she spent her nights alone
Looking at the Polaroids from the park
Singing Borderline to an invisible audience
And hoping that
I'd come home safe

The dog days of August were brutal that year
It took just one spark to start a five-alarm burner
The fire raged relentlessly
Burning not only houses and fences and hedges unruly
But destroying our union as well

She left the Dodger tickets she bought for me on the table with a note
I love you, it read
But I can't be your second love
Goodbye, Red
And I wept

Now 40 years passed
And the brothers I chose
Have said their own goodbyes one by one
And I still say goodnight to the faded photographs on the mantle
Cindy still the same as the day she left

I saw her again, an intentional meeting arranged by a friend
with new tickets in hand, I rang her doorbell
to be greeted with a smile and a hug
Oh Red, she exclaimed
Is it really you?

We spent many hours reminiscing about old times and new
but afternoon flowers turned into afternoon showers
when she told me the story she just finished telling
and offered me coffee
though she just finished pouring

A dark cloud appeared over my lovely sunshine
just as quickly as the smile faded from my flushed face
"Who are you," she screamed
agitated, angry, and frightened
and I was asked to leave

Even though I was still living, a part of me died
I didn't get the happy ending that my friend had envisioned
Now it was only resentment and regret
"All I had was the memory of her and you took that from me," I shouted
Once again without Cindy, yet again I just wept

And now it's time for me to say my last goodbye
no more doctors or treatments or medical sounds
and when I left the hospital that day
The hallway was adorned with my modern-day brothers
hands raised at attention, a final salute

*******************************************

author's note: This was inspired by an episode of the TV show 911. The story of Red and Cindy was just a small part of the show, so I filled in some details of how I imagined their story to be.