Deadwing

And something warm and soft just passed through here
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifled through the gray and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer

Like a cancer scare
In a dentist chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When the world (??)
Voices through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heel shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Deadwing lullaby
Like a fractured tie
It’s a worthless lie
To the public eye

I don’t take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity

Yes, I’d have to say I like my privacy
And did you know you’re on closed circuit TV?
So smile at me…

And the dream you had
Of your mom or dad
On a beach somewhere
And the poison air
With a cancer threat
In a cigarette
Deadwing lullaby
Find a place to hide

And from the yellow windows on the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his forgone pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name

And in the morning when I find I’ve lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through