daniel & page thirty-six

The Ballad of Daniel Mephistopholes and his Awkwardly Shaped Cat, Colloquially Known as Earwig (tentative title)

well Daniel was a gypsy boy, born & bred I guess
ere sixteen he spread his wings and took his mother's chest

he stole away to foreign lands and ventured to be free
but none escape a gypsy curse; no one, not even he


o Daniel, o Daniel,
you set the night on fire
o Daniel, o Daniel,
you made your mother cry


the gypsy king said gypsy things and spoke a gypsy verse
'til Daniel in a shallow grave they made his love a curse

young Daniel saw it coming and he couldn't help but laugh
"voodoo dolls and fairy tales mean nothin' to me now"


o Daniel, o Daniel,
you set the night on fire
o Daniel, o Daniel,
you made your mother cry


when Daniel first met Peggy Sue she was lookin' fine
well rounded breasts, a pretty face and those American thighs

they fell in love at once and he offered her a dance
a penny for a kiss and a ring to hold her hand

but Daniel was impatient and the night before they wed
he came home too early with Peggy in another's bed

Page Thirty-Six

this is page thirty-six
and I'm feeling fine
in ten minutes though
I might go back in time
never was there a page
so clean or crisp
and just a touch of black
if you held it up to light
page thirty-six, what have I done?
taken your purity
mixed it with mine
I don't think I'll ever
see another like this
its creamy complexion
and somehow poultry smell
I miss my old thirty-six
who always treated me well
and I'll cry for you forever
and I'll never spend a dime
a page like you
I could never see
anything more sublime
oh, hi there thirty-seven
what are you doing tonight?

straight from the pages of a rusty old man

do you have work tomorrow?
I know a beach not too far
and it's never too crowded
the forecasts say showers
but they're often wrong

drink red wine and smoke
and lie in the sun...
then when it gets dark
just take the ferry home



it's four AM and raining
I'm trying to get some sleep
thinking about my life
and these girls I met on the street

but now it's time to leave them
and I make my way outside
chasing rainbows in the dirt
seeing shadows in the snow


when I sang my first song
to the river alone
it was like she could hear me calling
she burst out her banks
deprived man of his throne
and signed me a golden letter

when I told my passion
to my very first kiss
she held me hostage for years
it's hard to admit
that a love such as this
should be my only poison

when I saw myself
in the God up above
I just couldn't keep writing
this vision it seems
to fit like a glove
and I fear I can never go home