City

6:09 pm with a thunderous crash
I finally got the chance to leave you waiting

I sat around the house
and built a fire with a match;
I changed my clothes
(suit and tie)
Stepped into the elevator

Froze my ears off
figure-skating sidewalks
I hailed a car:
50th
49th
48th
...a countdown to disaster, see?

Looked up your name
and called your bluff,
You were seven stories up
In a window shining bright
Like a hurricane devouring lamp posts
Look out
(and hear me) bellow!

and at the table
in the store
in the demonstration room
in this exhibition
i heard it begin
s o s o f t l y
but building...

Until all our fine china had been dissolved
Until all our clothes were splatter-painted
Orange and Red
Orange and REd
Orange and RED
We walked outside into our crumbling city
and watched the fire go out