So, we leave The Cove, a dive bar
on 55th St by the lake, and walk
a block, I offer them a ride
in my girlfriend's car, they decline
It was Eli's last day at work
she leaves for New York in 3 days
Tom's drunk, but he'll walk Eli home
after I say goodbye, I pass
two tall black guys in b-ball gear
they casually follow my friends
heading in the same direction
around the corner, no big deal
I go home and wonder down deep
this world's a mysterious place
and here in Hyde Park, Chicago
anything could go fucking wrong
I could find out that my two friends
were murdered for no good reason
only because they were both white
and looked like they had some fast cash
To reassure myself, I think
Tom will make it home to his wife
the mother of their two young boys
Ned and Bobby, both under three
I imagine Eli gets home
listens to Ke$ha on vinyl
crashes in her bed, falls asleep
doesn't get raped by two black dudes
This petite woman from Brooklyn
is slim with long dark wavy hair
and a voice like my deceased friend
raspy from cigars and whiskey
My mind freaks out from time to time
I don't want to get a phone call
from Tom's wife telling me the worst
news I could ever want to hear
Tomorrow my friends from Memphis
will be here for a conference
they'll bring their little boy Oskar
who's never been to Chicago
I took the day off to spend time
showing my friends around Chitown
not mourning the death of colleagues
and viewing a line-up downtown
in some lousy police station
me, with my long black hair pulled back
pony tail and black bandanna
clean-shaven, showing off my face
young enough to ask for ID
even though I'm over forty
as I enter the last dive bar
I will ever enjoy again
