A Street
A Street - meaning Summary
After the Party Ends
A first-person speaker addresses a former companion, mixing domestic abandonment with political commitment to show how intimacy and ideology collide. The poem moves from wry recollection of drinking and shared habits to hurt at departure, then to a resigned acceptance symbolized by standing "where there used to be a street." It balances grief and dark humor, ending on a sober toast to endings and the impossibility of returning to past excesses.
Read Complete AnalysesI used to be your favorite drunk Good for one more laugh Then we both ran out of luck Luck was all we ever had You put on a uniform To fight the Civil War You looked so good I didn't care What side you're fighting for Wasn't all that easy When you up and walked away But I'll save that little story For another rainy day I know the burden's heavy As you will it through the night Some people say it's empty But that don't mean it's light You left me with the dishes And a baby in the bath You’re tight with the militias You wear their camouflage You always said we're equal So let me march with you Just an extra in the sequel To the old red-white-and-blue Baby don't ignore me We were smokers, we were friends Forget that tired story Of betrayal and revenge I see the ghost of culture With numbers on his wrist Salutes some new conclusion That all of us have missed I cried for you this morning And I’ll cry for you again But I’m not in charge of sorrow So please don’t ask me when There may be wine and roses And magnums of champagne But we'll never No we'll never ever be that drunk again Okay The party's over But I've landed on my feet And I'm standing here on this corner Where there used to be a street The party's over But I've landed on my feet I’ll be standing on this corner Where there used to be a street So let’s drink to when it’s over And let’s drink to when we meet I’ll be standing on this corner Where there used to be a street The party's over But I've landed on my feet I’ll be standing on this corner Where there used to be a street
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