Next to the Fact …

Again I’ve been dreamin’; the one

That always has me feelin’ like screamin’:

Wakin’ up in a place I know but don’t remember, last

Night’s warmth, passion an’ promise already coolin’ fast.

When the friends that I wanted were out

And the ones that I met were not.

Drifted to the palace game, realising I

Knew neither the names nor the rules. Later

At the accident club the edges were dull, the

Twice-warm’d wine and cheap skin-sin far too pale,

Loud music too clever-sharp, too new;

All angles without corners, connections;

And we had all the line punches off pat.

The casino masks must have hidden people –

But they made it kinda hard to believe –

Once I’d matched dates

To the ticket lies I presented,

And the flames didn’t burn

The cards wouldn’t turn

My despair-low numbers into

The faces and aces I desired.

Walking out and waking before

I’m bundled out, I don’t recognise the

Face on the crumpled pillow so opposite mine.

But she smiles, with a stir and a twinkle

“for your money,” she’s breathless in need

“We can do it all over again.”

Smiling back, I have to remind myself

That the lie that the devil may care sits

Next to the fact that he doesn’t.