Written for the roundtable over on / togetherwherevermusic in June.
LYRICS:
Overhead
The trees frame the night sky
The stars in their velvet
And the candles on the table
Bleed onto the gingham
Where dirty plates and bottles
Accrue
I wander round
To the far side of the table
Where he sits
Surrounded by henchmen and cousins
Tell him I’m cold,
Rub my bare shoulders
He fetches his shirt
And wraps it around me
Back with my friend -
The guest of some other gunman -
She folds up her face
Do I know what I’m doing
She’s shaking,
A rabbit, glancing at shadows
Wanting to go
Smoke in the air
And the faint sound of music
She tells me we'll never
Be on the inside
The wives never know
The rib cage cathedral,
The gun
I bite my lip
And my mouth fills with metal
I catch his eye
His shirt smells of bonfire
Orion is watching
The hunter and hunted
Revolve
She’ll be gone
When the dew hits the glasses
The chairs on their sides
The old boughs creak with dawn and
The weight of their heads
Chains the men
To their chambers
Alone
I’ll sit out
Setting fire to the morning
Watching the birds
Burn down to the filter
Wrapped in a shirt
That covers my wrists
Penitential and modest
I come to pray
And wait
There’s no return:
The bus that I rode here
Eager, eyes darting
From road sign to ruin
Blew up on the border
A front page I pretended
To miss
He makes a toast
He’s not one for speeches
He’s pink cheeked from wine
And beady eyed watchers
I soften my gaze
To hide or entice him
Or else
Feel the moon
On my skin
Overhead
The trees frame the night sky
The stars in their velvet
And the candles on the table
Bleed onto the gingham
Where dirty plates and bottles
Accrue