Imprecision

Lotta confusion about how to get into the show
People waiting in random lines, you can't know till you get to the window
You at the wrong will call, she says, good luck picking the right one, dear
The band was on in Vancouver last night, I hear

PA looping a recorded broadcast message
All patrons subject to search before passage
Those who don't submit will receive a full refund
But will not be admitted to the arena; that's the way it's done

Paul and Katrina have a different philosophy
This kind of imprecision doesn't bother them demonstrably
It's not that they don't plan, they just focus on what's in front of them
I'd like to carry myself, in my next life, just like them

Finally we muddle in, happy to not get scolded
You folks are on the floor in seats that are folded
There's a number written in chalk under each one
I think that's clever - for the next show they can mix the seats up some

I walk off the floor for a pee and to get me a beer
Gal at the bar asks for ID, I say what's the fear
That I'm 18 and had plastic surgery to look 55
No, she says, looking for punch holes in your license, they do that if you get so drunk you can't drive

The warm-up act comes on and have a pretty good flow
He played guitar on a couple of the headliner's albums years ago
You say their sound is pretty clean
I agree but some of this sounds like a PBS Irish dance scene

But we enjoy the main act, the effort now seems small
None of the songs we know best sound anything like how we recall
And that feels honest, the way an old guy stays new
I want to be like that, hostile to nostalgia, just like you

Photo: Angelo Amboldi / Flickr. This verse copyright 2012 William Carleton.