In the quiet of his solitude, beneath the sky so wide,
An old man sits and thinks of youth, of love he’d cast aside.
Back to a time when he was young, in the heart of Chicago’s glow,
Working at the local Denny’s, where life seemed to move slow.

Her name was Sherri, fiery and bright, an autumn leaf aflame,
Her beautiful eyes sparkled with life, he whispered her name in vain.
They shared their dreams over sizzling grills, in coffee’s aromatic swirl,
He, yearning for the world’s expanse; she, a Chicago girl.

He loved her spirit, her laugh, her soul, she was his song of songs,
Yet the call of the horizon sang loud, to distant lands he thought he belonged.
He packed his bags, kissed Sherri’s cheek, “I promise sweetheart, I’ll return,”
Sherri chose to stay behind, in her heart, a silent yearn.

He wandered far, he wandered wide, letters penned with care,
Each ending with a whispered promise, hanging in the air.
The years rolled on, his heart grew tired, his dreams began to fray,
The world once vast, now seemed so small, he yearned for yesterday.

Now old and worn, he sits alone, his heart heavy with sorrow,
Missing her laugh, her spirit, her love, and the promise of tomorrow.
He missed the girl who never left, the city’s familiar hum,
The simplicity of Denny’s days, before the world had come.

From his chair, he slowly rose, to his desk of aging pine,
To pen a letter to his love, his sweet valentine.
“I miss you, Sherri,” he wrote with care, “I regret the day I roved,
My heart was always in Chicago, in the city where we loved.”

His heart beats on, in rhythm with time, beneath the sky so wide,
An old man sits and thinks of youth, of love he’d cast aside.
A letter sent, a promise kept, to the girl under neon light,
An echo of a memory, beneath the star-strewn night.

How I wish I never left you…