clinking bottles from the last of the late nights swung by old haunts to catch up on the night life catch our friends and wish them well for the end and be secretly glad we re not with them i felt unbalanced pushing home against club crowds how the lights of gas street basin should be reflected in dark water but the towpath s frozen over and the canal looks just like the abyss i m not done with this i m not giving in i m not giving up on you we just got older faster than you d like i guess we must have caught a bus i remember red wine and throwing up in the back of someone s garden with fairy lights all hanging from the door into the kitchen where a row of shots was waiting for the clock i felt unbalanced walking out to a new year how the dates that we assign never match up with our lives with all the chances on our side you think we d get it right one of these nights 