There was violence in the palms
On slapping shores, ointments, and balms
Wet waterboys in mountain town
Where he danced his old love gone
A vision of our haunted jazz
Separate the mom, apart the dad
A clawfoot tub, pagan moonblood
Immerse the legs, the face, the back
A sea warp sting stung in his throat
Started the shower, blew ghostly smoke
A winter’s mist, its frozen kiss
His frostbit lip, his evening robe
A sad child’s game, a family’s stones
Some former friends, some known unknowns
Screamed I’m police and baptist too
Done tipped them nice, done ate alone
So where’d he go, what was his name
Born sobbing fear, lived, longed for pain
We kissed his cheek, skipped stones up creek
We laughed and danced on beds he made
But find him in that mountain town
Where thought a prince, he burned his crown
No old love lost, just turned and tossed
With nine black crosses upside down, upside down