As I Walked Out One Evening


As I Walked Out One Evening

“And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead”
—W.H. Auden

As I walked out—one evening
Strolling along—Capitol Hill
The gay crowds on—Broadway
Suddenly grew—very still

And down by—the Rubber Tree
I heard a young lover—weeping
At night—in Volunteer Park
Where the ghosts—were sleeping

“I love you, dear—I love you so
Till Cascades—and Olympics meet
And the moon—slips by overhead
And the salmon—sing in the street”

“I love you—like the pale orchids
There under glass—in the moonlight
Making love in—The Conservatory
Both of us—higher than a kite”

“Let the years—come and go
In your arms—time seems to stop
As long as we—have each other
How I love to—make you pop”

But Seward’s statue—guarding
The art deco—Art Museum nearby
Frowned—and said happiness
Can’t last—it’s all a sad lie

I plunged my hands—down deep
Into the reservoir—gazing out over
Lake Union—from the giant Tower
The changing lights—of Sandover

Forty years later—here I am
Still loving my—gone crooked lover
With all my gone—crooked heart
All the Boss Cupids—taking cover

Strolling tonight—along Broadway
Once upon a time—I sighed in bed
But now—a crack in the sidewalk
Opens up a staircase—to the dead

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