< Broken Echo >

Sitting in the backseat of a moving car, I was on my way back home.
The city sped by, backward, a dead forest of concrete buildings, brick walls, dark rooftops.
I closed my eyes.I was on a continuous graveyard shift, badly needed a sleep.

The cabby switched on the radio. I very much liked this song once, the strings especially.

I remembered these words.
" The past has a way of sneaking up on us. You will hear broken echoes of it everywhere, like a bad replay. You will get mad at everyone for reminding you about it, even if its all in your head."

..
Ever experience that feeling where in you get all the symptoms of being sick but you're not really sick? I kinda feel that way right now....

Hotel California...streamed live...

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair.
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air.
Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light.
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

My foot tapped on the floor.

Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'

I chorused the last two lines..

".... You can check-out any time you like...
..... But you can never leave....."

I eased in the backseat. Neon lights sped by, in the rear view mirror. I could see the starlit sky through the window.
Some where, high up in the heavens, my constellation is 'Playing It Bogart'.