the bagman's gambit

on the lam from the law

on the steps of the capitol

you shot a plainclothes cop on the ten o'clock

and i saw momentarily

they flashed a photograph

it couldn't be you

you'd been abused so horribly

but you were there in some anonymous room

and i recall that fall

i was working for the government

and in a bathroom stall off the national mall

how we kissed so sweetly

how could i refuse a favor or two

for a trist in the greenery

i gave you documents and microfilm

too

and from my ten floor tenement

where once our bodies lay

how i long to hear you say

no

they'll never catch me now

no

they'll never catch me

no

they cannot catch me now

we will escape somehow

somehow

it was late one night

i was awoken by the telephone

i heard a strangled cry on the end of the line

purloined in petrograd

they were suspicious of where your loyalties lay

so i paid off a bureaucrat

to convince your captors they're to secret you away

and at the gate of the embassy

our hands met through the bars

as your whisper stilled my heart

no

they'll never catch me now

no

they'll never catch me

no

they cannot catch me now

we will escape somehow

somehow

and i dreamt one night

you were there in fours

head held high

in uniform

it was ten years on

when you resurfaced in a motorcar

with the wave of an arm

you were there and gone