We used to let the short way home
Turn into an hour or two
Another story by the bridge
Another laugh before we moved
Then “next time” turned to colder days
Your last reply slipped down my phone
I kept a few words waiting there
For when I'd have more worth showing
Your new beginning, my same street
What would I say if we should meet?
This morning by the river bend
I took a picture, pressed send
Meet me where we took the long way back
Before we had so much to say
We can leave some questions open
We can walk the river either way
Same old friend, a different morning
Nothing polished, nothing planned
Just a day, a place, a little time
And a story I can hear firsthand
New wooden boards, the same old bench
An empty patch beside the rail
You ask about that coffee stand
That sold the cans we knew too well
“Gone,” I write. “Then there's our chance
To choose a better one at last”
One small joke, and just like that
I stop rehearsing what to ask
“Next Sunday, early?” “That works for me”
The river catches threads of gold
You say the new job hasn't been easy
I write, “You can tell me on our stroll”
Meet me where we took the long way back
Before we had so much to say
We can leave some questions open
We can walk the river either way
Same old friend, a different morning
Nothing polished, nothing planned
Just a day, a place, a little time
And a story I can hear firsthand
I thought I'd need a better answer
Than “Things are much the same”
You asked about a can of coffee
Not how far I'd come or what I'd made
All the news I'd tried to gather
Could wait another day
There was something here to show you
So I sent it anyway
Meet me where we took the long way back
There's no speech I need to bring
We can leave some questions open
Start with any ordinary thing
Same old friend, a different morning
Same old joke about which side
What I call across the water
Is where you'll already be standing by
Next Sunday by the bridge
A little after dawn
I'll bring enough for coffee
We can take the long way home
