Strange Day Today

(a song from about 1992)

out in back
cracked white columns stand
like sad old men in the Georgia sun

cat-quick
an open door
unseen I'm easing, stealing over the garden wall

and through an open window
an old victrola's strains
come drifing down in to the yard
through the noontime summer haze

and in an upstairs bedroom
unmindful of my gaze
she takes a long, hard drag on a cigarette
and a across the bed she lays

and I heard her say
"what a strange day today"
then I thought I might have heard her say
"what a strange day today,
all the pieces-- they're all here
but it's just not quite the same"
then I heard her say
"what a strange day today"

clamp down
snicker snack
like a vorpal blade like a big bear trap
on my mortal soul

how now
these second thoughts
these deepest fears
these darkest doubts crowd around my soul
all around my soul

the first time that I saw you
I was knocked right off my feet
you gave me five good reasons to believe
and six to turn and flee

now all around the border
the twisted wire gleams
like the long, cold blade of a bayonet
in a gun-freak magazine

and I heard her say
"what a strange day today"
then I thought I might have heard her say
"what a strange day today,
all the pieces-- they're all here
but it's just not quite the same"
then I heard her say
"what a strange day today"