shreds of paper skip the pavement
slow wind mourns a melody
lyrics of sacrifice and surrender
now etched in memory
I stumble through your garden
magnolias hold no mystery
your petals are stiff and empty
of the scent I once could see
I feel folk songs moan,
whimper blues harmonica
wheezing fragments of what-if’s
over tequila-salted wounds
makes you wanna wonder
’bout prisons of used-to-be
& strait-jacket suits
of wanna-be dreams
I barely sniffed the cork
of champagne desires —
effervescing wishes
melting shadows lost to breath
I hear a folk song chorus
chanting hallelujah
anguish goin’ church
in convulsions of regret
tambourine just a-tremblin’
my tangled tongue is speakin’
pleadin’ for wishes
I know will never come
’flicted tremors wrack my body
and tears no longer flow
grief’s blindness broke my hand
on walls of my frustration
I just wanna testify
wails runnin’ ricochet
along freight cars of abandon
’til I lost the will to fight
whistle moans harmonica
guitar is just a-stringin’
I don’t wanna feel
but the pain is just too strong
makes you wanna dance to glory
’had my hand upon the rapture
all she did was shrug
and her smoke slipped through my fingers
harmonica, cry now if you wanna
guitar, sing if you’ve a notion
the storm inside my chest
is pulling me out to sea
beyond the surf which brings tomorrow
& waves of destiny,
my heart will sail me safely
until horizon is lost to mind
my eyes linger in the dimming
watching sun retreat from night
drifting slowly down
into whirlpool of despair
words catch on teeth of anger
tongue knots in strangled fear
my future crumbles, abandoned
in cold mists of used-to-be
her words walked right out the window
across the hill
out of my eyes,
extracting comfort by the roots
’til I was silenced by her choice
long, long
the refrain will always echo
strong, strong
the love I had to leave behind
wrong, wrong
the reasons given for the ending
and I will wander wondering,
how it all came undone
by
jamal
ali
© 7 march 2003
