We Can Be Whole

I know how you feel, Standing there, imprisoned by that counter, Smiling at me as you sell me Saxophone reeds for my teenaged son.

You have music in your soul. That’s why you took this job At the Music-Go-Round, Where you brave the guitars’ discord, The drums’ misbeat, Just to hear the occasional customer, Who knows what she’s doing. Someone just right To join your band.

You could say, You discovered her, Hidden in some scraping by, single mom Who can only afford To let her son play a saxophone With dents and scratches.

I know, Honey, Because if you want it bad enough, You can pull anything Out of that dissonance. I know, because I can hear David Sandborn From my thirteen-year-old’s beat up sax. The one he only plays When I bribe him.

But that’s all right. Because all I got’s This half-way vicarious life. Just like you.

I bet you stay sometimes, Past your shift, With the doors locked, And the lights dim. Polishing the horns. Tuning the guitars. Tweaking the place just as close To heaven as you’re gonna get, Before you head to that gig, Hoping against hope, That the right person will be At the wrong place. Just like I am now.

Oh, I can relate to your halfway existence. I can carry a tune, I know a few chords, And if I join your band, I wouldn’t be like one of those cute little chics. You see fronting half the other bands. So you’d have your niche.

Honey, we can be whole. We’ll hit the club scene. Tour the city, then the state, Then the country. Before you know it, We’ll be headlining at the Xcel Energy Center.

We can take my son along, He can play that sax solo, From his eighth-grade band concert. Everyone will say, “Wow! He’s just like David Sandborn!”

And you would smile at me, Tell me how it’s all heredity. The kid gets all his musical talent From his mother.

I would stop and smile too, Give credit where that credit’s due. Because before you, It was all Tuna Helper and Twinkies.

I’ll tell you, Honey, From one half-somebody to another, We should do this. We can be the biggest thing Since Peter, Paul, and Mary. Only our answer isn’t blowing in the wind somewhere. It’s right here, right now. All you gotta do Is drop the keys to that register, And we can fly. No more halfways. We can be whole

Gretchen Lee Bourquin obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature/Creative Writing in another life, and worked in disability care, customer service, and education administration — and as a single mom of two, now grown, kids- before delving into freelancing as a content writer. She’s enjoying the opportunity that Medium provides to get a little more personal and put the creativity back in her writing. Follow me on Twitter or my Facebook writing page.