Side Streets

The porches on the side streets
All remind him of those nights
A sky, black sky

Chased off the roofs of fancy hotels
Where they gave fake names, ghost names
Then they’d slink back to bars for drink
And reverie and they’d sing, how they’d sing

Oh, it’s been a long time, such a very long time
Oh, it’s been a long time, such a very long time

He dares himself to walk down
To the cemetery walls alone
There in the graveyard are granite stones
Bearing broken names, ghost names
And a cheap cross that’s wrapped in plastic
Stopping the rain that falls, how it falls!

Oh, it’s been a long time, such a very long time
Oh, it’s been a long time, such a very long time

He spent the night in the shade
Of lindens rotten underground, but soft
And though he scares himself bad
He stays until the first morning light

The long walk home
In the dead of dawn
No breeze, cloudless sky
There by the door
He sees some children dancing
In the street for joy, and he smiles
And they’d sing, how they’d sing

Oh, it’s been a long time, such a very long time
Oh, it’s been a long time, such a very long time

And now it’s gone away
The thinking keeps him
Up all through the night
He writes it down
A song, ghost song