These streets tell me stories
Like an old man reading his memoirs
Of schools whose lessons I ignored
Preferring those I learned in bars
Of jobs that became like jails
Where I taught myself how to get fired
Of songs I wrote in solitude
To win the hearts of invisible women
Of friends that I came to love
Only to hear one day that they died
Of nightclubs like second homes
That transformed into vacant lots
Of watching the world grow younger
While I watched myself growing old
Until I was fully that old man
Reading his memoirs to the wind
Bionote
Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.