VENETIAN VACATION Nikki sat with eyes wide open Thinking hard and gazing softly Planting her tears in the sand Swore she saw Gibbons before his fall to grace Picked herself up from the rubble Carefully sunned herself dry “Isn’t it all so nostalgic? I think I’ll slip this rock into my bra” Juan, he leans back in his chair Strokes his chin and states his thesis Me, I’ve heard it all before Like when he once spoke of civil rights Now he strokes the hair of History Dives into a golden well And he’s plowing his bulldozer Over my town just to find a coin or two Chorus: Just like our Venetian escape From one’s hobby springs a god Taking vitamins with water Helps you to distinguish right from wrong And the major dreams of pastures Wonders what it would be like And he tells us of his sheep dreams Right before we’re led into debate And with elbows on the table We produce a golden quilt Though we’re masters of this lost skill It’s basically just a waste of time and means nothing Chorus Nikki sat with eyes wide open Thinking hard and gazing softly Went to Italy last summer Wrote a book, but I wasn’t surprised Juan, he also went there too Proposed a goal at a big conference And this time I’m ready for him Grabbed my rifle from beneath my bed Chorus

DOWN THERE In the corner of the basement Stands a chair that you once sat in With your beads and cup of spirits Muttering in this dingy haven And the ever dangling light bulb Swings above you like a pendulum And it’s full of dust and cobwebs But it still gives light to you down there And the bubble man is talking ‘Cause you’re telling crazy stories Still the neighbors never saw you Dancing or telling your lies Now the hurricane is coming (It’s a lighthouse in the fog) But the only thing faith’s left you Is a tombstone with your name Down there Today’s a special morning You’ve got on your brand new suit And you’ve gone to pay a visit To a friend down the boulevard And he’s shaking red with anger ‘Cause you’ve sabotaged his image And he’ll send you to his brother To the devil you will go down there Your life is now in shambles And you’ve cut off your own head And you did not listen to me When I did not say a thing I’m just fine with a used candle Sleeping underneath a closed sign And I’m dreaming like a baby But you’ll probably still see me down there In the corner of the basement Stands a chair that you once sat in With your beads and cup of spirits Muttering in this dingy haven And the ever dangling light bulb Swings above you like a pendulum Still I’m dreaming like a baby And you’ll probably see me down there

SKELETON SHIP In the afternoon I heard you cry It was all ‘cause I didn’t ask why She insisted that I should react So I put on a dress and her hat The gumball machine gave me blue I most certainly knew what to do For the benefit of humankind: Count the goose bumps on every giraffe – Or something useless The scholar’s ear has fallen off On his shoe it had begun to froth His ideas and analyses His hunger pains with wine he’d tease The block of cheese has been quite ill It’s sporing fur of green and white It just wants to be left alone To die undisturbed by the hype The vegetables dance to their tunes In the garden they’re singing for you “If a cow could, it’d eat you,” one preached Though persuasive, you’d vote for the carrot CHORUS: On the skeleton ship The skins point to land While the bones sink the ship And the flesh on the mast takes up drinking The theorist strikes once again In a museum he brings in the crowds Like a thief I lift up the display case Disappointed – no lost jewels, just air! And you nurture your fate in this lot Collect baggage and other what-nots But you’ll always be late for the train ‘Cause you spend all your time packing luggage And the girl with the beak with Abstraction she’d lay Though blind to what these nights produced she’d stay She had no idea she was always alone As with blinking she’d always dishevel her bed To make you think she wasn’t alone CHORUS The acrobat swings in the air He soars high so he thinks he must care There’s no safety net down below But it’s all right as long as his eyes stay closed And she’s choking to death on a rock She survived and just kept to the grass But she overdosed on vitamins And got killed by a bus just the same You’re hoping for what everyone wants But it’s what you most certainly fear And it’ll probably torment you in Hell I’ll just buy you a god, wife, or cat CHORUS

PARADOX halfway to reality. and halfway to again. again and again. never reach the mark. the waltzing candle’s flame will never touch me. halfway to (“oh weary feet”), but still a rose is etched in stone. symbols squeezed of liquid gold upon a tombstone where a Zen dog’s mouthing “no no no.” just like jelly. i crush the numbers in my palm. i’m munching on a cracker. and a flask of poison words is shrined beneath the bed. i sense the smell of oysters, bite my lip, and then stay silent. halfway in the strychnine egg. “hold your tongue, that you may get there,” i whisper secretly to my other hand. you leapfrog towards infinity. build your kingdom in the quicksand. if you could touch me, you would know me. i can wait forever, and for now, i’ll laugh in silence.

ATLANTIS REVISITED How would you feel today if I left you in the sea? At the very bottom All alone with no key Would you play in the sand? Or stretch out your hands Like the way that you did When you stood like a statue In my bathroom With a potato in your palm? How sweet you looked with your hands and face pressed to the glass Sailing towards your destination Swimming with all the fish Would you miss me at all? Or enjoy your new life? Or shout out loud Because you couldn’t get out? Then you’d complain That the slugs ‘round your toes crawl too slowly How would you feel if you knew what’s happening in your room? Yes, but there’s nothing you can do About the excavations There’s so much to find out ‘Cause we must know it all And I must tell you that It beats collecting stamps Or lint from holes Or philosophies from the east How would you feel today if I left you in the sea? Searching for some buried treasure Just to kill all the time We now know all your dreams Though boring some seem But they’ve been jotted down Anyways, just in case… Wouldn’t you know? We know you better than you

A MINER STRIPPED Consider this a second warning Silly boy blue has been laid to sleep He thought he saw tomorrow’s skies But it was only the haze And now he’s drinking coffee with the boys And searching deep, he thought he had us fooled The many colors looked ridiculous He wondered how a horse would dance He shot a fox, panicked and ran He knew it was the right thing to do When we’re not laughing, we ignore it It may be harsh, but that’s how things go He may not like what Hobbes had said But noxious we’ve become instead A miner stripped of his sense of depth He’s often working for a king He never needs to bring a thing The diamonds that he’s searching for Are to him just a great, big bore A miner stripped of his stones for coal So now I hear he’s made a comeback We’re behind him with a push and shove And with his tools, he’s worked a sweat He’s been stripped down to rags by now I think it was very therapeutic I don’t want to tell you again, my boy Time will tell what you’ve learned (if you have) And when I’ve prepared to observe I thought I recognized that sound… The miner stripped his diamonds for coal A miner stripped diamonds for coal

SHE OF FANCIES I’m hoping I can get back home. I hope I can get back in my body before I’m left here all alone – just bones. I don’t like the many faces. They warm their ears up with bananas. And they all toss their dirty glances as if I’ve been running around the city naked. She’s grown bored of her new philosophy. She wants to get into my skin in search of a brand new illusion (again). But, I’m sorry I’ve nothing to offer. There’s nothing in here but some dust, a suitcase, and a broken pencil – that’s all! Now she’s coming with a great big crowbar. And, she is looking for my kidneys to stuff with great, big, bloated hornets (how nice). She’s got pinwheel eyes. And you spin them around like in Russian Roulette. With a gun to her head, she’s a smile on her face. Now, I find myself out in the streets like some old pervert on the beat. My hands are seen inside my pocket on my hip. And she’s happy with my sense of nothing, until she buys some brand new earmuffs (though I kept telling her it might as well had been dirt). She’s got pinwheel eyes. And you spin them around like in Russian Roulette. With a gun to her head, she’s a smile on her face. A knife in her back – no, she wouldn’t have that.

SPHINX Deep inside of the cathedral Stands a man with rolled up bills And he’s thinking that he should of stayed in bed And the red streets that he walked through (just last night) Already miss him So he grabs his coat and heads out for the door There’s nothing wrong with revenge If it keeps your home real silent The unicorn’s been spotted on the beach And the sinners are now winners And the crippled man is fodder When you’re witnessing the crowning of a frog Still, please don’t let me hold on To the greatest love of your life “What if Mussolini wore a dress?” Your quaint critical conclusions Are like Cat’s games underwater They’re as useless as a big hole in my head Now the frog, he’d like to thank you For your attentive attention No one thought he’d ever make it big And the body in his closet Drops his chin with understanding They’ll be happy for some many years to come Now you’re inside the cathedral You’ve left town (I heard you talking) Possession of guilt never felt so good And you’d had enough amusement for the day It’s not your circus As you left you gave a postcard to the priest

HOW THE APPRENTICE’S CONSCIOUSNESS KILLED HIM he pricked his thumb to test the point. the drop of blood meant go on. he’s off to weave with eyes wide open. to beckon with the slightest hint. i’m offering my skull for practice, and he rides in on a slug. i tell him where to shove the needle. have him choose the color thread. purple is for unicorns. red is for a candy cane. yellow’s for a night with Lisa. white is for a New Tomorrow,…so he threw that one away. and though i feel the tug between my ears, i can still hear the coughing cat. and all i wanted was a kiss from Nero, and he bragged of shaking Pilate’s hand. he thought he knew it all like the back of his hand, but there’s no room in here for the living. how they’d laugh at the sight of him. he’d be a walking “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” with those banners pinned to his face. they laughed at his obsessions and at his most embarrassing thoughts (i never knew this side of mother). so i finished him off with his very own dreams. and all the while, my eyes were shut.

PILGRIM Right from before the start The gentleman sailed away He promised the whole universe He’d digress from disappointment This is the way we start to sing Away, map carved in his back The pilgrim from the sea Situation’s beyond your control Still you stop for a bite to eat Situation beyond your concern But you must have a reason to live This is the way we smashed his face As I sat rigid in my chair I envisioned myself getting lost Dive into a pool full of lips They are chattering away their teeth Although you forgot your bathing suit It’s all right ‘cause they’re talking to you The man stole a country for his name Now he wants to get into my skull But I told him never mind I had changed it just last week This is the way the body’s found Dirty, but clean just the same It was hidden beneath my bed To the house of god you will go Or to hot dog stands in the east Many rolls of film to be bought The pilgrim from the sea You are racing around the world On a rocking horse made of veal And you’re convinced that you will win ‘Cause you gave it enough to eat Through the ghost town you will ride Coming back for the seventh time Hearing voices to reproduce them He’s the pilgrim from the sea This is the way you read a book When I heard you talking to her I knew I did not want to read Rice And they say that gold falls from your mouth So I pried in while you were asleep All I found was a piece of cheese This is the pilgrim from the sea This is the way you’ve tricked yourself You may run after me and catch me But you’ll never give me that kiss It gets you through the nights Especially when fast asleep I don’t understand it at all So I will not say a thing This is the way you count your z’s We will steal them until you have none… Little things amuse me But, this is no little thing I guess you like what you like He’s the pilgrim from the sea