The Trapeze Swinger
Please, remember me happilyBy the rosebush laughingWith bruises on my chin, the time whenWe counted every black car passingYour house beneath the hillAnd up until someone caught us in the kitchenWith maps, a mountain range, a piggy bankA vision too removed to mention
But please, remember me fondlyI heard from someone you're still prettyAnd then they went on to sayThat the pearly gatesHad some eloquent graffitiLike "We'll meet again" and "Fuck the man"And "Tell my mother not to worry"And angels with their great handshakesWere always done in such a hurry
And please, remember me that HalloweenMaking fools of all the neighborsOur faces painted whiteBy midnight, we'd forgotten one anotherAnd when the morning came I was ashamedOnly now it seems so sillyThat season left the world and then returnedAnd now you're lit up by the city
So please, remember me mistakenlyIn the window of the tallest towerCalling passers-by but much too highTo see the empty road at happy hourGleam and resonate, just like the gatesAround the holy kingdomWith words like "Lost and found" and "Don't look down"And "Someone save temptation"
And please, remember me as in the dreamWe had as rug-burned babiesAmong the fallen trees and fast asleepAside the lions and the ladiesThat called you what you like and even mightGive a gift for your behaviorA fleeting chance to see a trapezeSwinger high as any savior
But please, remember me, my miseryAnd how it lost me all I wantedThose dogs that love the rain and chasing trainsThe colored birds above their runningIn circles around the well and where it spellsOn the wall behind St. PeterSo bright, on cinder gray, in spray paint"Who the hell can see forever?"
And please, remember me seldomlyIn the car behind the carnivalMy hand between your knees, you turned from meAnd said, "The trapeze act was wonderfulBut never meant to last", the clown that passedSaw me just come up with angerWhen it filled with circus dogs, the parking lotHad an element of danger
So please, remember me finallyAnd all my uphill clawingMy dear, but if I make the pearly gatesI'll do my best to make a drawingOf God and Lucifer, a boy and girlAn angel kissing on a sinnerA monkey and a man, a marching bandAll around a frightened trapeze swinger