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

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