Little Known Fireworks

I got my best kiss

During some

Little known fireworks

Pops and bangers

And the hood of my car

Was nice and cool

Because it was hot out

That night

It’s usually hot

By the time we have the church festival

And I wasn’t planning on going

But my girlfriend said

Jim would be there

And that was all it took

To get me off my rear end

And into the car

The rule about the church festival is

You’re going to see at least ten people you don’t like

As soon as you get there

There’s this one and that one

And you gotta fight your way through a crowd

Before you finally get to a friend

Or somebody you can talk to

For a few minutes

Before you go get something to eat

Or just stand around drinking

Wondering when you can go home

There’s not a lot to do around here

The city’s only ten minutes away

But people like to stay close to home

Even when home ain’t all that nice

Jim was flipping burgers

And when he caught my eye…

I just sort of smiled

Because I always liked him

Since we were at school together

And I think--

I think maybe I’d said two words to him

Before that

But sometimes you just get to an age--

I was almost forty

And had a divorce behind me

And it’s like--

What do I have to worry about

When it comes to--

When it comes to men, you know?

I had two teens at home

A girl and a boy

And I had no time for shyness

I can tell you that

The way I look at it

If somebody likes you

There’s no shame

In letting it be known

But I also know

That people are usually smarter

Than everybody gives them credit for

And I knew Jim could see my face

And knew what I was thinking
And that he’d find me

If he wanted to find me

And it turns out he did

But see, I wasn’t at the big fireworks spot

In front of the supermarket

I sat on the hood of my car

Behind the old fire station

And Jim found me anyway

He turned off his car

And came to sit on the hood of mine

That was nice

I liked that

You can see the fireworks just as good

From that spot

But most people don’t know about it

I’d been going there since I was in high school

Because I followed Jim there one night

And saw him kissing this girl

Who I didn’t think was all that pretty

Not sure what ever happened to her

We talked a little bit

He and I

He asked about my kids

I asked about his mom

Who he takes care of

And then we just watched the fireworks

Not any big story to tell you

But it was a nice time

Even though I didn’t want to go

The friend who invited me

Got drunk and went home

With this girl who does tattoos

In her living room

And she said she had a great time

And asked me what I got up to

I told her

I watched the fireworks

And I wasn’t lying

Not everybody

Needs to know everything

You know

Sometimes it’s nice

To keep something

To yourself