THE LATE HOUR

A man walks towards town,
a slack breeze smelling of earth
and the raw green of trees blows at his back.

He drags the weight of his passion as if nothing were over,
as if the woman, now curled in bed beside her lover,
still cared for him.

She is awake and stares at scars of light
trapped in the panes of glass.
He stands under her window, calling her name;

he calls all night and it makes no difference.
It will happen again, he will come back wherever she is.
Again he will stand outside and imagine

her eyes opening in the dark
and see her rise to the window and peer down.
Again she will lie awake beside her lover

and hear the voice from somewhere in the dark.
Again the late hour, the moon and stars,
the wounds of night that heal without sound,

again the luminous wind of morning that comes before the sun.
And, finally, without warning or desire,
the lonely and the feckless end.

TEARING DOWN THIS PLACE

Knock it down, take it away
We've got work tearing down this place
Take it away, take it away, take it away

Here's the room where they lay awake
Through a complicated night
He was staring at the wall
And she cried and cried and cried
Under a roof that held the real rain out
And covered up the sound
He built her every wall
And we have to tear it down

Knock it down, take it away
We've got work tearing down this place
Built for a ghost, haunted by love, left to decay

Knock it down, take it away
We've got work tearing down this place
Take it away, take it away, take it away

Here's the door he would walk right out
On an undecided night
He was spelling out her name
In the artificial lights
Through this window she could see her man
Staring at the town
He built her every wall
And we have to tear it down

Knock it down, take it away
We've got work tearing down this place
Built for a ghost, haunted by love, left to decay

Knock it down, take it away
We've got work tearing down this place
Take it away, take it away, take it away



THE FARTHEST LIGHTS

At the window by yourself
I'm outside with everyone else
Hold yourself against the chill
And look at me with no expression

In the eyes I know so well
Is a question and a spell
An astronomer all my life
I've never seen a light so pale

The night is clear
When the stars appear
I recite their names
The farthest lights
Only now arrive
Wonder how they've changed

Everybody says goodbye
Driving off into the night
I look up when the moon comes out
Then shut the gate and go inside

More distant every day
I will ask but you won't say
Do I watch the sky too much
Familiar and so far away

The stars appeared
But they're always there
Up above the day
The farthest lights
Take us back in time
Wonder how they've changed

The stars appeared
But they're always there
Up above the day
The farthest lights
Only now arrive
Wonder how they've changed