4.  God of Ocean Tides

Close the door on a short night
Lift the lid on the daylight
6:09 West Tennessee time
And I buy all my days

At the same place where the girl sells her nights
To a God of ocean tides.

All night long,
Writing poems to California
Melodies of failure
And the people I have thrown away
Meanwhile, somewhere west of Carolina
In a congregation of strangers
We are digging holes to China
Then we pray to our reflections
In the water when it rises.

I said headlights pin the highway down
Jesus spins the world around
And I’ll spend all my tomorrows coming down
Goodbye all my days.
I know I said I never loved you
But I might just try again tonight.

Truck stops and river Gods
Gas stations of the Cross
Following a ghost,
Following a ghost,
I pray the water wash away
The memories and the cost.

Cary me south, to the sea
Along with your memories of me
We are born in the water
Now we return to Thee.
Colored lights
And birthday cakes
Candle wax
On paper plates.

Breathe the water
Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye.
You can see through water
All the way up to the sky.

Gods of water, Gods of rain
Cover up the sun again
We are crossing it at the Mississippi line
And I tried all my days
To love you just the way you hoped I might,
But I’m leaving here tonight.
I can’t remember yesterday
I tried, if I said I could I lied.