Damn these waves
that beckon this shore.
Promising so much,
asking so little
in return.

Crystal waves,
full of life -
so close,
yet a million
miles away.

Salt is in the air,
refreshing - near.
Foam floats
in speckled form
around my ankles.

Present, yet
forbidden.

I am all
wrapped up
in phrases and song.
Woven by memories
never quite forgotten.

Pieces of you
still linger.
Caught between
my fingers.

Never to leave.

Green waters
swirl beneath me,
all foggy and warm.
Beckoning this
long lost friend.

Oh to be lost
in their tempast.
To succum to
the frothy warmness.

I am disjointed.
Wanting to jump -
unable to fall.

I haven't left -
yet.

I can't.

I see your faces
through the rain,
dimensions yet unformed.
A tear blurred mist
among the grass
where toilers often mourned.

Through distant paths
mixed with the mud,
ancient yet never crossed.
Your form it flutters
in the breeze.
Your name is all but lost.

With one swift
movement against
your car.

Cold metal breathing
down my back.

You filled
my veins
with concrete -
using only
a whisper.

I can’t move,
for mud has
filled my shoes.

Your face
hovers above me.
Disjointed.
And I can’t,
breathe.

Old Boyfriends,
Lost in the pocket of your overcoat,
Like burned out lite bulbs on a Ferris Wheel.

Old Boy friends,
You remember the kinds of cars they drove,
Parking in an orange grove.
He fell in love you see,
With someone that I used to be.

Tho I very seldom think of him,
Nevertheless sometimes a mannequin's
Blue satin dress can make the window
Like a dream
Ah but now those dreams belong to someone else,
Now they talk endlessly
In a drawer where I keep
All my

Old Boyfriends
Remember when you were burning for them?
Why do you keep turning them into
Old Boyfriends?
They look you up when they're in town
To see if they can still burn you down
You fell in love you see
With someone that I used to be

Old Boyfriends
Turn up every time it rains,
Fall out of the pages in a magazine
Old Boyfriends.
Girls fill up the bars every spring,
Not places for remembering.
Old boyfriends
All my old boyfriends
Old boyfriends

Tom Waits