Last Call

Last call
Let's go
The party's over, we've been left behind
Last call
We're done
Like melted ice cubes & a lemon rind

Last call
Head home
The bartender's packing up his cut-up limes
Tip well
Poor guy
You told him your most boring stories several times

Here's to those who look up and see
That Venus and Dionysus have fled
Nothing left but a Daily Show rerun
Some PopTarts, then off to bed

Last call
So sad
The drugs we took were not quite proper
Last call
Time's up
Everyone else had ecstasy and poppers



All the rest found a better party
To which you and I were not invited
Sad to say, our love for the in-crowd
Is a love unrequited

Last call
Show's done
The only music is the ringing in our ears
Last call
Pack up
But grab some swizzle-stick souvenirs
It's the only way to show that we were here

Elegy

Jimmy called up and I knew right away
It was years in the coming, but it happened today
I knew what it'd be even before he said,
"It finally happened.  I'm sorry.  He's dead."
You'd bragged and you'd treated it all like joke
But the illness was stronger and you finally broke
Someone, I know, should have been there and stayed.
I'm sorry you were alone.  I hope you weren't afraid.

I think of the good times, just like you're supposed to
So fun to be with, so hard to be close to
Sometimes I ignored your lies and deceit
Thinking those are allowed to a poète maudit
As if your pretension to being an artist
Excused certain choices, perhaps not the smartest
But whatever I say to try and dismiss you
I can't see the bottom to how much I'll miss you

I'm saying this now trying to fill up the void
I know if you heard it you'd just be annoyed
Of course you would find it all dumb and cliché
At best you might smile and say, "Yeah, it's OK"
Or maybe this once, maybe you'd condescend
To accept something given with love from a friend
I wish it were better. It's all that I've got.
You're dead now, you bastard. You're dead and I'm not.

Parlor Song

There once was a flower that grew in a hedge
She filled up my heart with her scent
Today when I looked, the flower was gone
And nobody knew where she went

Oh why should I weep
Oh why should I cry
The flower is gone
But her scent still stays by

There once was a bird who lived in a tree
And delighted us all with his song
Then some thoughtless boy killed my bird with a shot
And now my most dear friend is gone

Oh why should I weep
Oh why should I cry
My dear friend is gone
But his song still stays by

There once was a mermaid who lived in a brook
And her voice was the sound of a dream
The mermaid has vanished, I'll see her no more
But I still hear her voice in the stream

Oh why should I weep
Oh why should I cry
My mermaid is gone
But her voice still rolls by