Justin Rutledge

Sleeveless in Vancouver

Justin Rutledge


How the weatherman complains about the heat
A tourist waves a camera on the street
The clumsy thumbs of summer point to Kitsilano Beach
The trains are in the distance, out of reach
and the whales are moving drowsily in fleets

And you were riding sleeveless in the car
and I was swaying legless at the bar
You said that we'd be sweethearts when I learned to play guitar
but man, I never learned to play guitar
Oh, now I'm swaying legless at the bar

For eleven days, you punished me with bliss
and a sky in mid-July that held no clouds
So I followed your small ankles through a large metropolis
but I lost them when they reached those subway crowds
Oh, like a fool, I lost them when they reached those subway crowds