The Trapeze Swinger

I gotta say,... this has to be one of the best funeral songs ever written.

Please, remember me happily,...

By the rosebush laughing,

With bruises on my chin,

The time when

We counted every black car passing your house beneath the hill,

And up until someone caught us in the kitchen

With maps, a mountain range, and a piggy bank...

A vision too removed to mention.

Please, remember me fondly...
I heard from someone you're still pretty,
And then they went on to say
That the pearly gates had such eloquent graffiti,
Like 'We'll meet again.'
And 'Fuck the man'
And 'Tell my mother not to worry'
And angels with their great handshakes
Were always done in such a hurry...

And please, remember me at halloween,

Making fools of all the neighbors,

Our faces painted white,...

By midnight, we'd forgotten one another,

And when the morning came, I was ashamed,

Only now it seems so silly.

That season left the world, and then returned...

And now you're lit up by the city.

Please, remember me mistakenly
In the window of the tallest tower call
Then passes by
But much too high
To see the empty road at happy hour
Gleam and resonate, just like the gates
Around the holy kingdom
With words like 'Lost and Found.'

'Don't Look Down.'
And 'Someone Save Temptation.'

Please, remember me as in the dream
We had as rug-burned babies,...
Among the fallen trees, and fast asleep
Beside the lions and the ladies
That called you what you like, and even might
Give a gift for your behavior.
A fleeting chance to see
A trapeze swinger, high as any savior...

Please, remember me, my misery,
And how it lost me all I wanted.
Those dogs that love the rain and chasing trains
The colored birds above their running
In circles round the well
To where it spells
On the wall behind St. Peter's
So bright with cinder gray, in spray paint
'Who the hell can see forever?'

Please, remember me seldomly
In the car behind the carnival
My hands between your knees
You turn from me
And said, 'The trapeze act was wonderful
But never meant to last'
The clowns that passed
Saw me just come up with anger
When it filled with circus dogs
The parking lot
Had an element of danger

Please, remember me finally,

And all my uphill clawing, my dear
And if I make the pearly gates
I'll do my best to make a drawing
Of God and Lucifer
A boy and girl
An angel kissin on a sinner
A monkey and a man
A marching band
All around a frightened trapeze swinger.