Tara Sings
We're outside that famous cafe in North Beach
a sunny afternoon in July
we're at our sidewalk tables with wine
and cappuccino
me and the other sad old poets
suntanned tourists
and the neighborhood folk
a man sits on the sidewalk
with a guitar
singing a Simon and Garfunkel song
Bridge Over Troubled Water
and it's not bad but nobody's
paying much attention
and then Tara walks by
like something
from a movie
like something left over from better times
with her legs and her hair and her smile and her
everything
she's got a bag of apples from the local market
she stops and sets it down
and sings along with the man
on the sidewalk
she's got a voice
that knows what music is
and she sings like nobody's watching
but everybody's watching
the sad old poets smile and nod
the tourists take pictures
and the man on the sidewalk plays
like he truly has a reason to
for the first time in his life
and Tara nails it
she brings it home
and when it's over she smiles
grabs her bag
and continues on her way
the man with the guitar
looks around and says
that there was Tara
now that she's gone
I can only sing the blues
and he does
but nobody much cares
because Tara's
blocks away now
the magic of the day
trailing after her like pixie dust
the tourists still snapping
pictures like madmen
trying so hard for a piece
of her soul.
--William Taylor Jr.
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