A movie ran inside my head, complete in every scene
An apocalyptic vision, a technicolor dream
It’s fading fast now I’m awake, I try and keep a hold
of all the things I’ve seen and heard, and all that I’ve been told
A desperate cartoon human chasing copies of himself
down cobbled streets of cardboard to the continental shelf
My dad was dead, but still alive, attending his own wake
My mother and my family were begging me to take
a leading role, to save my soul, with incantations loud
I drew the blood from a living son, concealed within a shroud
I became an ancient prophet who had seen the unseen sea
been taken to the darkness from which no one is set free
Yet once allowed to leave behind the wintry shores of hell
I felt compelled to all the other sinners go and tell
But still the carbon cartoon chasing copies of himself
could not catch up or glance aside or raise a cry for help
And in a New York dreamscape sounds of music touched my ears
- don’t know why, but Ol’ Man River had me fighting back the tears
I fell from the top of the Empire State, but somehow I survived
Sinatra and Dylan were singing, I felt glad to be alive
And as I tried to fight the urge to wake to all my cares
my heart was filled with certainty, I knew we would be spared
Yet questions rose and asked themselves: How can life carry on
without the will to feed and clothe and care for everyone?
I woke in tears, aware of all the loves that could not be
Forgiving of the father, hoping he can forgive me.
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