now you see me...

there's a coin in your pocket that dances alone
ascending the staircase to fair Babel's throne
among the thistles and briar they've grown
to keep out the God Overthrown

there's a coin in your hand with the man in the moon
hunting the Whale with a lecture harpoon
while the Wolf licks his teeth and his eyes like balloons
the sun has gone down too soon

heads or tails till you lose your voice
heads or tails, there is no third choice

there's a coin in the air with bloodthirsty grin
waiting for Boy No. 12 to begin
a third-rate investor sheds his second skin
allows his facade to wear thin

there's a coin on the floor that whispers a tale
of a neverending Sleeper, her dreams to impale
upon the grey matchsticks of yesterday's mail
her windows all turning to shale

heads or tails till you murder your brother
heads or tails, it's one or the other

heads or tails, the stairs to descend
heads or tails, you win again.

we could have been beautiful nightbirds
biting deep into clouds.
we could have been a thousand lit torches
to celebrate The End.
we could have been porcupine quills,
a fragile forest, minor chords,
the shed out back, moon on the water,
every moment of clarity distilled
and bottled, rock rising from sand
dunes in the grim afternoon light,
a red door and a blue door,
silence after words, candles in hand,
breathing leaves and rain, shoe
polish under our eyes and the happy
ground beneath our feet.
we could have been children again.

in my dream you are where i remember you
and you are smiling and i wake up and the
morning is angry.