Van Halen

Contributor: Tonya Moreno

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I picked you up since I invited you
New to Memphis and new to you
Formal with each other and a bit nervous
The Pyramid loomed large and mysterious
Against the skyline down by the river and nervous
I turned the wrong way down a one way
Meeting a bus head on and backing up quickly
We laughed and relaxed a little cheating death

I couldn’t help myself when they played
“Right Now” I stood up swaying and wanting
So badly to dance and sing along with the crowd
To lose myself in the music and just let go
But I looked at you still in your seat and
I was too self conscious and sat back down

I didn’t know until years later that you
Didn’t’ even know any of their songs
That day I asked in the teachers’ workroom
If anyone wanted to go with me to the concert
And you ran alongside my car as I was pulling out
Tapping on my window in the high school parking lot
Telling me you would go with me to the concert

I didn’t know then it would be my last first date.


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A retired opera singer and volleyball player, I currently serve as an adjunct professor of English for East Tennessee State University and Northeast State Community College. My work has been published in Elle Magazine, Fiction Addiction, Black Mirro Magazine, and The Mockingbird.