Cotton Corners

On the corner of a West End street
I turned the wheel and saw
From the window of my father's car 

Victorians in the brick and snow
And before I traveled back south
I entered the yellow house 

The day before 
The day before
The day before 
The overture 

Through icy eyes under grapefruit sun
I sailed and ran aground 
On the little toe of my little town

And in anticipation of her arrival 
Mother and I put a tree 
Next to the fire and the lizard painting

The day before
The day before 
The day before
The overture 

She's got cotton corners
And I was ready to accept
The velvet cuts on my hands

As I climb down
Into solitude
The melodies are hung 
From a nail in the vanilla drywall

And how will she look when 
When she sees me
Heirloom greens and reds
Equivalent empty beds

The day before 
The day before
The overture about Jesus 

She's got cotton corners
And I was ready to accept
The velvet cuts on my hands

With camel-colored thread
She sews up my side
As we descend 
Through the eye of a needle 

Through windy window
The harbor sang 
Cold Into the bedroom scene

In the kitchen
Of ma’s house 
We drank on my 35th New Year’s Eve 

The day before 
Her departure
The overture about…

She's got cotton corners
And I was ready to accept
The velvet cuts on my hands
The breaking up of the band
The indifference of everything
Now I’m seeing it different 

~ ~ ~