Second Time Tonight?

The next time I die I want to land in one of those monasteries, where the mummified bodies of monks and saints line the hallways grinning with some secret knowledge.

I can be happy there til the end of time, hanging on my hook in my robe, laughing with my friends at the idea that we might still be here....

And when it's all over,we'll laugh all the louder! Hear our broken bones rattle while we dance!

I Fell For You That Night

You know I've always been a little bit in love with you, don't you? Like maybe two and a half percent? Any more than that could be way too dangerous!

Do you remember when it started? I'm not sure. It might have been that night in the railroad station, waiting for the train under the summer stars after the show. Or it might have been that night we swam in the Aegean, a thousand years before Jesus was even a gleam in his daddy's eye.

I remember watching you that night, when you dropped your white linen dress on the soft sand. You laughed when you took the laurel crown from your brow and tossed it like a frisbee onto the cold forbidding rocks, then dived into the surf. You looked so brave!

Or maybe it hasn't happened yet? Maybe it's some day in the next milennium, when the sky is brighter and we're finally safe?

Either way, it'll turn out alright. Because how else could it turn out, if it's meant to be?

Fog

I saw you standing on the corner, backlit in the cold white fog. Angel in the mist, cold vapor crawling over you. I wished I could see your face.

But your face doesn't matter, it's your heart that counts. Do you love me like I hope you do? Or are you just another mummy drying in the desert sun? And did we make love on top of the pyramid, while the Aztec priests waited with their knives?

Their blades struck only the hot sandstone walls, we were already so far gone! See you next time around, but count the scars and keep track.

Amen

Next Time Around

Steel wheels rolling round that curve,

Foot steps echo on the tiles.

Your camera don't know how to blink,

so you miss it when heaven rolls by.

I wish I could take you down there, babe,

to hear your boots echo on the platform.

Wish I could spin you,

waltz you and twirl you,

But we were both already ghosts.

And the platform is empty,

but you and I are hiding

on the stairway 

where no one can see us.

And  your long white skirt billows,

and the ghost light is glinting

on the lightning flash

deep in your eyes.

And the sun is rising,

while the light is melting,

and the glass is burning 

in the sky light. 

In the skylight.

Good morning.

City Hall Station

Dance down the dying brick tunnels,

dance down the dark ferry wharves.

The ghost boats are watching,

pretending they're sleeping,

They're hoping you can't ever leave.

Dance down the black escalator,

dance down the grey marble aisles.

The shelves are all empty,

the help's all accusing,

and they're gonna keep you forever.

Dance down the sharp iron ribbon,

dance where you hide in the dark.

This station went out of business,

the steps are just echoes,

and nobody cares that you're there.

And the lovers

on the passing trains

are kissing in fluourescent lights

and thinking that you're just ghosts.

Christmas On The Beach

Maya strolls the beach

in a soft trance.

Slow like water,

Slow like a dream,

Slow like stars rising over the ocean.

Sun glinting copper on her hair.

Her eyes are wide open,

but she's not seeing the same world you see.

Her bare feet are kicking up little sprays of sand,

and that's strange because you swear

she's walking inches above the dunes.

She stops at the old stone circle 

in front of the light house,

her sisters are all there

standing on the stones.

She steps into the circle,

folds her hands

and whispers."Om."

She starts to unbutton her white cotton dress,

slow like a hurricane

slow like lightning.

She slips it off her shoulders

and her body becomes perfect light.

Perfect light, perfect light,

just before it turns to dust and wind.