OPEN CALL | BLOOM
2 min
Nick Cave chained to a grand piano
Suzanne Rofe
Cryptic and Christ-like. Creaks when he breathes
Biggest damn forehead I ever did see
But I'm not in this place. I'm not in this room
With its floral dresses and Gucci perfume
Scratching my forearm in lines til it bleeds.
"It wasn't you - it was me"
It wasn't you. It was me
Black limbs hunched on the parquetry
They should have done studies. They should have let me -
I'd have checked that the beast could even be here.
On this ancient flooring, this ancient air
Angles like a math book, piled on the keys.
It wasn't you - it was me.
It wasn't you. It was me.
He won't leave the chair til it becomes clear
It's hard to watch. It's harder to hear
She's the prettiest woman there's ever been.
And she's waiting somewhere, patient. I mean
You'd think he'd go home more often than this
But I wouldn't know. I don't have what's his.
I'd help if I thought he wanted my aid
But his chains are untouched and I"m far too afraid
I'd curl up and die if I woke him now.
You would. You know that. If you saw how
The storm clouds gather around his chair
You'd hide your face. You'd stand well clear.
I creep like a mouse and cover my mouth
To still the air. It's not a church
But it feels it and I should not be here.
I might be in love, but it's more likely fear
I'd wish to be anywhere now, but here
I'd wish to be anywhere, love, but here.
I'm wearing a groove in the wood on the floor
Orbiting hapless and helpless. I saw
The bats squirm through and out to the sky
But if I think about that too hard I'll die
If I think about this too hard
I'll die
And a long line of women would turn in their graves.
It's long past the point where this might have been saved
And I'm long past the point where I might have been saved
So surely we're tied together in this
And surely we're trapped together in this
And surely those chains are heavy and cold
And the chill only grows. I've often been told
That a captive bird learns that he loves his cage.
And we slow down with age.
And we suffer with age.
So the moment you wake I will wait for the word
And we'll walk free from here. Or so I've heard.
But the dust settles heavy on a head bowed low.
So I'll keep my vigil and tread lightly so
The beast doesn't wake and the world doesn't end.
I'll wait for you, friend.
I'll watch over you, friend.
A sphinx with a cheekbone that could cut you like glass
And might share the world with me if I thought to ask
But I've nothing to offer and I'm afraid to speak.
So I will not engage.
I will stew in my rage
Til the bile burns me open and I writhe like a snake.
Your fingers sit still and hover in wait
I cannot think straight.
I cannot think straight.
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