in that dress growing ever tighter
it was saddening the lengths she had gone to
to appear more attractive
in the process losing something
we never knew but still missed
you knew you were lost as soon as you saw her
you saw your life as a series of complicated dance steps
they had to come naturally
together you squirmed and wriggled
and i could only jerk along behind
they're going to hurt you
and i could only stare wide-eyed
as everything closed in around the three of us
talking of the power and rescue
she opened the door his face bruised and swollen
falling down curved stairs
our message lost and our plans forgotten
surrounded by men in suits
bland expressionless faces
a handful of marbles thrown in a dustbin
in a northern town there were amazing stones arranged on the southern slope
they got out in the last few seconds of consciousness
look for their inscriptions one day
the most distant ocean plains
those who make the desert island
i saw you in a tin bath in red water
were the ones who went to washington to do their laundry
they wanted to see the mysterious hurricane
i never believed in new york
or where you intended to stand
but we don't actually want to see the shipwrecked