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