Lyrics

TWO BY TWO
In the halfway house the ribs of Adam lie
Near Abaddon’s leaf -- the silver chalice sky
The hangnail of the furies turn the twisting tide
Sunken office, lurid scale, the cold inside
The lion at the bow with teeth from the til
Alter-wise, the rudder shorn in turns from quill
Oceanward where Noah sank his wilting nail
Cloister-wise mandrills flare electric sail
Jonah, his salted tambourine
Beats the gold and silent depth
Noah, his forlorn atrophy
Paints the bones of marionettes
Two by two; wood-set blackened eyes
Mercy’s ark by altered ballast dies
In the red-rude fading light a ship of jewels
Torn-wise to the silted house his feet of rules
Rules
Hey…
Rules
The poise of ire