memories from a song #2

"summertime, summertime
brought me back to thinking you were mine
all those times
we laid it down and left it all behind, we were blind
oh, the summertime.

we could ride, we could ride.
take my hand and watch the world go by.
laugh or cry, well we need to try,
get off the line, time to fly
oh, the summertime.

go on ahead
and let it fade away
no looking back
you know the past will stay.
it's you and me, we could get out of here
jump in and go and we could drive for years
where we could feel alive...

here we are, here we are,
windows down we see a falling star
stop the car
waiting for nothing but our beating hearts,
going far
oh, the summertime.

so feel the air, feel the air,
take the map and point to anywhere
i don't care
fingers through your hair,
the sky i've seen is blue and green
oh, the summertime.

driving away, leaving it all behind.
just driving away, away, away...
driving away, leaving it all behind.
just driving away, away, away....


its the perfect temperature because the windows are down and we are driving fast and there's a breeze and i'm not even cold, even though im always cold. my hand is hanging out the window and i'm moving it through the wind with fascination, feeling it rush over and under and shape me even as i am shaping it. you are next to me but we are in bucket seats so i dont feel the warmth of your body. we aren't touching because we're not at that place yet, although in a few years, unbeknown to us both, our hands will be joined by a minister and our ring fingers will permanently display a promise. for now, in this moment in time, you are driving me through the neighborhoods of greensboro with the windows down (the sunroof would be open, too, if it werent broken) and you are teaching me that this city is a grid. you ask me to choose and we take a turn here and there, just to see where it will take us. no matter where we turn, you know where we are and i settle deeply down into this bucket seat and feel safe. we share a love for nighttime driving, for driving as leisure. we share the same sense of freedom as we feel the summer air wash over us, saturated with its scent of sun and heat and earth. i feel totally unfettered, letting all the sounds and sights and senses become a part of me and move me to breathe deeply, sing out loud, drum in patterns on my bare knees. summer had melted into my skin, caressed me golden, and my mind a window thrown open, its curtains billowing out beyond the sill. were you already captured then?

(song lyrics "Summertime" by Mae)