first date

can I sing you a song
she says,
I want to be a
singer. I brought
my guitar along
just in case you did.
sure, you say, why
not and sip
a spoon of clam
chowder into your
mouth.
I wrote this song,
she says, as
if introducing
herself at the
birchmere, when i
was a young girl
back in Chantilly
virginia, but it's
just you and
her in a restaurant.
it's called,
sugar sugar.
oh, I know that song,
you tell her,
the archie's sang
it, 1968.
no, she says, it's
not that song.
this one is different.
but can you sing
that song too, I
mean when you're
finished with this
sugar sugar?
maybe she says,
throwing her hair
back and tuning
the strings.
you call the waitress
over for more
crackers for your soup.