Bye Bye Melody

She said, "You've got cocaine eyes."
I said, "I'm just surprised—
Wasn't expectin' you to stop by."
She scoffed, "Well, I'm not; I'm just wasting time."

I said, "That's quite brave and bold of you."
She said, "Maybe, but doubly cold are you,"
As I stood there frozen like a whale harpooned,
And she yelled, "If I were Ahab, I'd kill you too!"

So, I'm stuck right there: gobsmacked stare,
White as a flag, waving scared,
Nursing apologies with Baudelaire,
Hoping poetry will pay my fare.

And she turns at the door, waiting to hear more,
So I steal a line from Poe and say, "Nevermore!"
And she forgives me, but I know it won't endure,
'Cause one day she'll find out what all those books were for...

So, we come together, holding fast.
She thinks we'll last forever; I say, "Well... perhaps."
She asks, "What does that mean?" and takes a step back.
I say, "It may be forever or it may be the last."

Right then I knew I was burning up fast,
Dodging lightning as I clung to the mast;
Like Orpheus, there was no lookin' back—
And we both know the result of that.

So, I sang my peace on that winter night
As her shadow dissipated under hotel light,
And the sound of cavaliers drowned out my cries.
As she was walking away, I knew I was right:

Forever, sure, but not for long:
Our personalities were just too strong;
We could handle our whisky better than our wrongs—
If all good things end, this will surely go on...

Well, you drive off to your parents' place,
And I'll get a job foldin' paper planes,
And I'll fly on over as you're sayin' "grace,"
But it won't come out till you've seen my face,

And I'll touch down in some muddy waters,
Wrestlin' for ya like Bloom for Martha,
Brushin' up on Keats and Renaissance artists,
Loadin' canons with prose for love bombardment—

That's when your ship comes in,
Givin' old warnings of "never again,"
Knowin' good and well what will happen
If we put aside our anger and make amends,

'Cause we're one of two, not born anew—
Just me and you breaking through.
But, another battle will ensue—
Until then, we'll believe it's few and

Miles between like rotten dreams
That float by without disrupting
The ship's orbital destiny.
But, all bad things must repeat.

Then, we'll claim not to have seen it coming
As I blow my nose on drug money,
And you brush up on Sunday funnies,
Sayin', "Geez, you're a damn bad joke, honey!"

So, it's back to the patchy motel carpets,
And antique stores, and flea markets,
Wonderin' what I did to break your heart
As I watch you walk away down the boulevard,

And the streets were fill'd with lightning,
And they were flooded with fire and writing
Like "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin!"
But, once it's over we'll start again—
O' it's never over, 'cause we always meet the same end...