The City of (brotherly) Love

The first time I traveled south to PA
I was just in college
Just beginning to grow my knowledge
My dad asked me if I wanted to stay
My brother was stationed not too far away
And we could watch college basketball men play
Sure
I’d like to see Philly
Run up the steps like Rocky
See the Liberty Bell
Have a few stories that are good to tell
Toss coins in a wishing well
The same one Ben Franklin threw coins in
The same wishes they’ve always been
Liberty, Freedom, and Brotherly Love

The next time I went to Philly
College was done
Didn’t go with my dad
Went to see another one
One I also loved
Not as a sister or brother
Or father or mother
But passionately
She was my lover
She showed me places that were new to me
Things before I did not see
Opened my heart to love
She was the first to show she was not the only one
Gave all the benefits of loving some one
I visited Philly more than once to see her
The last trip I was sure
We were sharing love
Perhaps I should move
But I felt it was too soon
My list still had many things left unchecked
Feeling this for her I did not fully expect
Ready for a new life
I could not accept
I didn’t move
But I don’t regret
Because we got our own lives
But our heart did not divide
Rather our new lives would synthesis
And synergize
Probably see each other again on the other side
Next to the divine
A love that lasts all time

I had not been to Philly in almost a decade
Thought my story in the city of love
Had already been played
Just long ago forgotten days
But then I met someone
Who reflects only sun rays
She called Philly her home
Although it was not
She had just arrived
Her place of birth on the Atlantic’s other side
And she spoke a language closer to love
Her words hard to understand
But her intentions clear when we joined hands
Not much to say
When someone makes you feel this way
Just the way you are
The way you know you are meant to be
We fell in Love in Philly
Had a date at the ball park
And the cinema
Made love in the light and the dark
Now I keep a piece of her heart
This is a beautiful new start
Love, that is Philly’s best part

Philly was the city of brotherly love
But love has grown and changed
Now in America
Love has been freed
And those who love those of the same sex
Can now sign each other’s checks
The same rights as all is what we expect
It is what we will get
Philly is not just the city of brotherly love anymore
It is the city of sisterly love too
A place where whites love blacks
Where Europeans love Americans
A place where students learn and understand
A place of history
But not a place where love is a mystery
Welcome to Philly
The place to love freely