Last night, again
You were in my dreams
Several expendable limbs were at stake
You were a prince, spinning rims
All sentiments indian-given
And half-baked
I was brought
In on a palanquin
Made of the many bodies
Of beautiful women
Brought to this place to be examined
Swaying on an elephant
A princess of india
We both want the very same thing
We are praying
I am the one to save you
But you don't even own
Your own violence
Run away from home-
Your beard is still blue
With the loneliness of you mighty men
With your jaws, and fists, and guitars
And pens, and your sugarlip
But I've never been to the firepits with you mighty men
Who made you this way?
Who made you this way?
Who is going to bear your beautiful children?
Do you think you can just stop
When you're ready for a change?
Who will take care of you
When you're old and dying?
You burn in the Mekong
To prove your worth
Go Long! Go Long!
Right over the edge of the earth!
You have been wronged
Tore up since birth
You have done harm
Others have done worse
Will you tuck your shirt?
Will you leave it loose?
You are badly hurt
You're a silly goose
You are caked in mud
And in blood, and worse
Chew your bitter cud
Grope your little nurse
Do you know why
My ankles are bound in gauze
(Sickly dressage
A princess of Kentucky)?
In the middle of the woods
(Which were the probable cause)
We danced in the lodge
Like two painting monkeys
I will give you a call, for one last hurrah
If this tale is tall, forgive my scrambling
But you keep palming along the wall
Moving at a blind crawl
But always rambling
Wolf-spider, crouch in your funnel nest
If I knew you, once
Now I know you less
In the sinking sand
Where we've come to rest
Have I had a hand in your loneliness?
When you leave me alone
In this old palace of yours
It starts to get to me. I take to walking
What a woman does is open doors
And it is not a question of locking
Or unlocking
Well, I have never seen
Such a terrible room-
Gilded with the gold teeth
Of the women who loved you!
Now, though I die
Magpie, this I bequeath
By any other name
A jay is still blue
With the loneliness
Of you mighty men
With your mighty kiss
That might never end
While, so far away
In the seat of the west
Burns the fount
Of the heat
Of that loneliness
There's a man
Who only will speak in code
Backing slowly, slowly down the road
May he master everything
That such men may know
About loving, and then letting go
