Shadow Kids

The Promenade Deck on the Queen Mary, by Sean Duggan

The Shadow Kids (lyrics)

The shadow kids are knocking
They’ve been kicked out of the park
You can watch the way their veins are growing teeth,
And the nerves along my wrists press my fingers into fists
As you fashion safety pins into a wreath.

The sun rises so quickly
Even though we’re not asleep
The sky is almost white as Willie’s smile.
The boys are all out stomping
On the curbs and in the streets…
Our victrola hasn’t played in such a long while.

You better take good care to listen
For the ringing of his name,
He’s coming for you, such a long, long way.
And my girl you gotta hurry,
Steal a kiss to last a year,
Cause that chain around his neck’s gonna pull him away.

Now the sun sets in the west
Like a blanket on the beach,
Buried halos that old angels couldn’t keep.
And Queen Mary, she don’t sail much,
Just an empty swimming pool
Where the shadow children find a place to weep.

My effort writes in circles
And in lines over my skin
Like the slicing of a tree reveals her age.
There’s a ring for every summer
And a knot for every loss,
And a sacred rock to wash all our sins away.

So pour ink into a needle
Lay the prick under my skin
While this alabaster raindrop’s seeing red,
And draw me something deep--
Enough to cover all my scars--
Cause there’s nothing but leaves left blowing in my head.


[copyright Taylor Roberts, 2006]

Queen Mary by Sean Duggan