Cleopatra on the Nile

It's a matter of happenstance
and the deal
and the grave
The deal God made with the devil

Do you remember the train
in that old black and white film
roaring through the night?
And that same old movie
the calendar's daily pages
falling like leaves
The flickering days blown in the wind?

Our lives like leaves
our memories
Cleopatra on the Nile
I saw her in the distance
before Vesuvius blew me away
through the clash of swords down the ages
or a rape
which side was I on?

Time
that was the deal the devil laid
time and space and all of this
impressions

Put the paint back in the box
it's Sunday morning
rest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was not old
and fading
or wrinkled
I was not sagging
down the page
except when I looked
in the mirror
and then who looked back

I don't remember me
and all those fading days