All that I know
just got taken away
in the fabric of neurons
the vibrating day
blue sky and distance
empty house at the end of the bay

all of the doctors
they act so immune
I was gathering up roses
I got barred from the room


and you can’t tell the nighttime from the daytime
you can’t tell what’s ending and what’s beginning
all of these moments we are given
and the clocks and the scalpels surround us


the crack in the raincloud
the rust in your eye
we traded Green Card collusions
for black x-ray dye
the taste of a peach
and the curve of the earth ‘round the sky

today all I have
is a true hard love
prayers in hospital bathrooms
no time to look up


now you can’t tell the nighttime from the daytime
you can’t tell what’s ending and what’s beginning
I put my arm around you hope you’re sleeping
as we filter noises from the deep end


the Lebanese battles
the Libyan prince
the old missile silos
and the shabby defense
the market in Khar
lepers lap at the Damascus rinse

so we’ll batten down
through the wooden world’s splinters
through the mind’s altercations
as the body delivers

the song that it wanted to sing
I’ll dance with you who I wanted to bring
all these fears are just messages from the beginning
dark water, dark sky
but still swimming