The House Next Door

The house was burnin' down next door

I heard her scream, I heard him roar,

But when I woke I knew that she'd been dreamin'.

So I took a match out the box,

And took a drag, and went down the block,

But by then I knew that she was gone.

So then I took some steps in reverse

Through the ash, the pain, and the curse,

And broke the glass in my bathroom window,

And I stole the china that was in your care,

Mama's touch, and the dog's bristlin' hair

So what's left but a dream or a song?

My Lord, so comely and featherweight

My hellish truth lies in the break

And burden of souls named and wrought in blood,

And where's van Gogh who coughs aloud,

To shield my face from haze and cloud,

And coughs again, and then again once more?

Now this ain't my hundr'd-fifteenth dream

This shit just kinda pours out it seems

So I'ma let it keep on a-flowin'

So let's take this thing as far as it'll go

Up to the moon, and back to the blow

Of ancient wind that sings softly through me,

And keep your gold, and keep your silver

It don't cost nothin' for me to kill her,

'Cause the ones your love'll never see it comin',

But the grave I'll dig, it won't be shallow,

'Cause in'll go me, my love, and her shadow,

But my shade must fill back the hole.

So here we lie in our earthly hood

Between mattresses of dirt and wood

Left to breathe in each other's air,

But we'll just laugh and melt away

Burn our flesh for God to say,

"Come with me, now it's your time to go!"