Mary Elizabeth Moved to Brooklyn By Joe Garland © 2015.

G
Mary Elizabeth moved to Brooklyn
When she was 23
C
She had just a few friends
And a newly-minted degree
G
She worked long hours in the backroom
Of a Wall Street investment bank
D
Savored her weekend walks in the park
C                                              G
It was on Sundays that she drank.

Eric haled from Chicago
Really the suburbs but he liked to pretend
He lived in a walk-up in Bushwick
With the friend of a friend of a friend
He worked as a paralegal
At a mid-town law firm
He too worked long hours
He spent nearly every penny that he earned.

D
They loved each other
C
To the bottom of their souls
D
And all they wanted
C                                            G
Was to be together when they grew old.

Mary and Eric met at a party
Held by a couple each barely knew
She thought he was a bit heavy
He thought she’d look nicer wearing blue
Both had some extra time to kill
They talked well into the night
On Monday she called, asking if he wanted to meet
He told her that he just might.

She was drinking more and more
He worried with every word she’d slur
She didn’t believe as much of herself
As he believed in her.
Then there was the incident
That brought things to a head
She sat on the 4 train mumbling
“Perhaps it’d be better if I were dead”.

They loved each other
To the bottom of their souls
And they wanted nothing
Except to be together when they grew old.

He held her hand as he walked her to rehab
When she finally stopped saying no
He hated himself for wondering whether
She’d turn into someone he didn’t want to know
At nights he stared at the ceiling
Each minute felt like an hour or two
What if if she got better she saw him differently
And tell him they were through.

But she was no longer a train wreck
There were a few times she almost fell back
She never crossed, he’d have been there for her
Before things turned to black
They bought a three-bedroom in Hastings
And we could walk to the train
Each Sunday they made sure to go walking
In the sun or in the rain.

They loved each other
To the bottom of their souls
And they wanted nothing
Except to be together when they grew old.