Memory, You

You were that
Great, western angel
Corralled by canyons and sea
Hat tipped and toothless Hollywood Boulevard
Big screen faces on The Drive

Soul-city
Of lost prophets and dreams
Howling in the moonlight, carry-on wind
Screaming cop sirens and love songs
Traffic-jam, free

And our heat baked, sun-soaked faces
Whispering through miles of farmland
Dairy Queen, drive-through smiles
Stereo loud
Let’s go

Never New York
Somehow
That long-term
Sleep-dream
That never sleeps, or stops
For the glare
Long, or, much

But always, L.A.
Casual, girl-tongue rolled
Fog-broke, sun-styled happiness
Bottled in laughter
Piano chorded, guitar chug hearts
Tom Petty style

And you, smiling
So in love with
Your latest, rock-poet
So misunderstood
So
Unloved, or loveable

Your very own
Rope-shy cowboy
Hip-shot, gun stained
Graffiti heart
Painted with names

With the curtains come down
And the crowds gone home
Body strewn
Like wet towels
Across the bathroom floor

And me
Dreaming into the wind
Racing big-rig wheels
In the rearview
Kicking up dust
Blackened tires in the sun
Never gonna pop or slow down
Coz we know the truth about love

Feel it like
A white flag across the desert
Sentence short
Simple talk
Like a message across space to
The man on the moon
W-A-L-K
Or,
The earth, itself
KEEP TURNING

Feel it, like
Moonlight high, gone
Pretty girls in a row on a bus, gone
Didn’t know till you kissed her, that she loved you, gone

Just like our feedback headed, fairy-light idols
Knee-drunk
On liquor
On sweat-shine faces in a crowd

Heart beat thumping in your ears, gone
Streak of blue in a grey sky, gone
His old ghost still roaming the moors, gone

And you and me
Head-talk playing all day long
Saying, just drive
Cigarette smoke
Curling into the wind
And you, pouring your heart out
Spanish, flamenco rhythm style
Singing it into the wind
Pulling wish seeds out of flying, dandelion air
Heartland, desert dreaming
Towards the future
Glistening and unknown

Never wondering about
What will happen when we get there
Or, if we’ll ever even know that we’ve arrived
Never wondering
Just set down
In the sinking sun
Set down with our infinity eyes

And I don’t believe that it’s true
Me and You
Dreaming into the wind
Sun-soaked, California style
I don’t believe in goodbye

Just a quiet room
A quiet room, alone with your heart
Big enough for the world to hold
And pass around
With your knuckle blood
And your quiet walls
Like a symphony, overcrowded
In the middle
Soul bared
And us all
Blocked out

But you, standing, still
Heart-wrung and smiling
Saying
Backup and over-play me

Memory, you