And Goodbye to All That

At karaoke that night Malin sang "Oh Darling." The Beatles, you know. With her long hair hanging down in her face. (Darling is a British word. It means "dear." Just so you know.) And Jen's brother came, massive and blunt, with a broad grin, a working-class kid from nowhere, and he sang "Boy named Sue," with startling confidence and panache. Tele and I sat there, slumped, leaning on each other's shoulders, And I felt I had arrived at a country I had only ever heard about. And I was wise enough to let it be.

Now it all recedes, and a new thing surfaces in the dark, water running off its gleaming sides.

Oh darling
Please believe me.

It faded into daylight, and the smell of oil on the hands; all gone, gone.