DEATH OF A LADIES’ MAN
MEMORIES
Frankie Laine was singing “Jezebel”
I pinned an Iron Cross to my lapel
I walked up to the tallest
and the blondest girl
I said, “Look, you don’t know me now
but very soon you will;
so won’t you let me see,
won’t you let me see,
won’t you let me see your naked body?”
She said, “Just dance me
to the dark side of the gym
Chances are,
I’ll let you do most anything
I know you’re hungry
I can hear it in your voice
and there are many parts of me to touch
you have your choice.
But no, you cannot see,
no, you cannot see,
no, you cannot see my naked body.”
We’re dancing close,
the band is playing “Stardust”
Balloons and paper streamers
floating down on us
She says, “You’ve got a minute left
to fall in love.”
In solemn moments such as this
I’ve put my trust
and all my faith to see,
all my faith to see,
all my faith to see her naked body.
PAPER-THIN HOTEL
The walls of this hotel are paper-thin
Last night I heard you
making love to him
The struggle mouth to mouth
and limb to limb
The grunt of unity when he came in
I stood there with my ear
against the wall
I was not seized by jealousy at all
In fact a burden lifted from my soul
I heard that love
was out of my control
A heavy burden lifted from my soul
I learned that love
was out of my control
I listened to your kisses at the door
I never heard the world
so close before
You ran your bath and you began to sing
I felt so good I couldn’t feel a thing
I can’t wait to tell you to your face
I can’t wait for you to take my place
You are The Naked Woman
In My Heart
You are The Angel
With Her Legs Apart
It’s written on the walls of this hotel
You go to heaven once
you’ve been to hell
A heavy burden lifted from my soul
I heard that love
was out of my control
TRUE LOVE LEAVES NO TRACES
As the mist leaves no scar
On the dark green hill
So my body leaves no scar
On you and never will
Through windows in the dark
The children come, the children go
Like arrows with no target
Like shackles made of snow
True love leaves no traces
If you and I are one
It’s lost in our embraces
Like stars against the sun
As a falling leaf may rest
A moment in the air
So your head upon my breast
So my hand upon your hair
And many nights endure
Without a moon, without a star
So will we endure
When one is gone and far
True love leaves no traces
If you and I are one
It’s lost in our embraces
Like stars against the sun
I LEFT A WOMAN WAITING
I left a woman waiting.
I met her sometime later.
She said, I see your eyes are dead.
What happened to you, lover?
What happened to you, my lover?
And since she spoke the truth to me
I tried to answer truthfully:
Whatever happened to my eyes
Happened to your beauty
What happened to your beauty
Happened to me.
We took ourselves to someone’s bed
And there we fell together
Quick as dogs and truly dead were we
And free as running water
Free as running water
Free as you and me
The way it’s got to be, lover
The way it’s got to be.
DON’T GO HOME WITH YOUR HARD-ON
I was born in a beauty salon
My father was a dresser of hair
My mother was a girl you could call on
When you called she was always there
But don’t go home with your hard-on
It will only drive you insane
You can’t shake it (or break it)
with your Motown
You can’t melt it down in the rain
I’ve looked behind all of these faces
That smile you down to your knees
And the lips that say, come on, taste us
And when you try to, they make you say Please
Here comes your bride with her veil on
Approach her, you wretch, if you dare
Approach her, you ape, with your tail on
Once you have her she’ll always be there
So I work in that same beauty salon
I’m chained to the old masquerade
The lipstick, the shadow and the silicone
I follow my father’s trade
But don’t go home with your hard-on
It will only drive you insane
You can’t shake it (or break it)
with your Motown
You can’t melt it down in the rain
DEATH OF A LADY’S MAN
I KNELT BESIDE A STREAM
I knelt beside a stream which was manifesting on a polished wooden floor in an apartment above Central Park. A feathered shield was fastened to my left forearm. A feathered helmet was lowered on my head. I was invested with a duty to protect the orphan and the widow. This made me feel so good I climbed on Alexandra’s double bed and wept in a general way for the fate of men. Then I followed her into the bathroom. She appeared to turn gold. She stood before me as huge as the guardian of a harbour. How had I ever thought of mastering her? With a hand of chrome and an immense Gauloise cigarette she suggested that I give up and worship her, which I did for ten years. Thus began the obscene silence of my career as a lady’s man.
THE CAFÉ
The beauty of my table.
The cracked marble top.
A brown-haired girl ten tables away.
Come with me.
I want to talk.
I’ve taken a drug that makes me want to talk.
COMMENTARY – THE CAFÉ
The notebooks indicate that this café was situated near the water-front in the part of Piraeus. I could not find it. Upon inquiry, I discovered that it had been demolished and the marble tabletops thrown into the harbour. The brunette, who was thin, then, is now a skeleton. Her sleeveless summer frock is for sale on Deluth Street on a wire hanger. The little cardboard boxes of Maxiton, the flat sliding metal containers of Ritalin, quite absent from self-service pharmacies. The pretty conversation dissolved immediately into the sunlight which is why it was urgent and breathless. Standing on the quay, I saw some ghostly shapes in the depths but I was told they were sunken Javex bottles.
THE CHANGE
I could not trade you for a nightingale. I could not trade you for a hammered golden bird. You took
