there is music pouring out the window
the people who live here have cars galore
their house is full of light and love
and you cannot come in
you do not belong there
from above your head, it trickles down
like the rain battering your tattered beanie
you've got nowhere to go
you've got no home to call your own
thanksgiving just recently went by
nothing to be grateful for except
well, the clothes on your back
and your unsatisfying life
so you're prone to sit
even if it's wet because you know
you've been walking all day

the cardboard sign already got thrown
they hate it when you tell the truth
the music suddenly grows louder
you do not know who did it
but you suppose you are thankful
nonetheless
because you bump your head
to the strums of the guitar
and the beats of the low drums
and the melodic sound that sounds of frank sinatra
you're stuck in your own little world
you don't notice the girl who tripped
because of you until she slams
hard against the concrete
scraping her chin against the stone
you're to your feet immediately
thoughts racing, unsure of what, really
is happening right now
but you're picking her up

she has some skinny arms
kinda like yours
and when she stands up
meeting your eyes
you think: "wow, who are you?"
who is she?
an angel?
a devil?
quite equally, you suppose
she could be both
she's just like you
she's got nowhere else to be
there's something you recognize
in those alike with you
that longing for lingering touch
that desire for intimate contact
so, you figure out

she fits perfectly in your arms
her hair is tucked beneath mounds of hoods
her face is covered in water
the incessant rain will not stop yet
"can i have this dance?" you ask
there's a smile which graces her lips
gives her the courage to nod
and your heart fills with warmth
her hand in yours, fueling that connection
it's you two together, against the rain
you start to sway, and she follows suite
you dip, and she bends to your will
you lean in, and she curls her leg around yours
before unfurling like your emotions before you
your faces meet, then go back again
both of you look at each other, astonished
she is to first to look away, spots a puddle
and seizes the opportunity to become a child
jumping and splashing you with water

and you gasp and you say, "you can't do that"
before jumping into the enticing puddle yourself
both of you are drenched in water
but you are laughing
there has never been a moment in your life
where you've felt so resonant with someone
and she looks back at you so graciously
as though she's wanting to spend every day
just like this: just the two of you
the song from within the house stops
and you look behind you, scared
sure enough, a boy just a bit younger than you
comes out and demands you leave before he calls
the authorities
but she laughs in his face, goads him into telling whoever he can about them
and then grabs your hand, running off into the darkness
the lights of the house behind him are no more soon
and it's only you two
your heart yearns for this forever:
your own little world