Piece of free advice for everyone participating in National Poetry Month’s Poem-A-Day challenge: When in doubt, let form be your friend.
This would be my first attempt at an aubade, probably because the division between day and night in the NYC of my memory can be a real thin line. Thinking about it now, I should probably write an aubade based around all the times I would go out dancing with my friends and keep clubbing until we heard the strains of three songs that said it was time to go. In order, it would probably be Aly-Us’ “Follow Me” then Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and the song that said You don’t gotta go home but you best get outta here was Heatwave’s “Always and Forever.” If you heard these three songs in sequence, then it was time to either find the underground after-party or a good diner for some Disco Fries.
On the same musical note, I think it is high-la-ree-us that Wikipedia’s definition of aubade includes references to Eagle Eye Cherry’s “Save Tonight” and Jack Johnson’s “Banana Pancakes”. You best believe that if I get a chance to teach some formal poetry, I will be including both those songs in my curriculum.
And now, the poem:
Aubade–Anywhere Avenue
[Poem was here.]