I love reading poems, but I can't remember any (with a few exceptions - I can recite a couple of Shel Silverstein poems by heart, and certain lines stay with me for a while*) unless they are in the form of lyrics.
So I'd like to share the lyrics of a song by Nellie McKay, Manhattan Avenue
Send a breeze
a pitbull's yelp
A tender squeeze
a cry for help.
Make it now
and make it fast
Such memories can never last
I long for the day
music is playing
mama's a smiling friend
in the scuzzy hue of the sunlight
Manhattan Avenue
Lionel please
watch o'er our door
The children tease
I beg for more
Chipping paint
the ceiling's spent
aww, ain't it great
can't make the rent
I long for the day
kittens are meowling
junkies are prowling
deep in the jazzy hue of the streetlamps
Manhattan Avenue
How wild it is
what strange advice
that a mugger and a child should share the same paradise
Oh, but dreams come true on Manhattan Avenue
Here's another taste of Ms. McKay
If you would sit oh so close to me
that would be nice, like it's supposed to be
If you don't I'll slit your throat
so won't U please B nice!
If you would hug your arms right round me
that would be snug, like it's supposed to be
If we part, I'll eat your heart
so won't U please B nice!
Ohhhh, don't you love this romancing?
Know that it's your life you're chancing, la de da
Isn't it nice, now you've married me
Sugar and spice, like it's supposed to be
If you go, I'll get your dough
So won't U please B nice!
Stop with your jazz oratory
I only listen to Top 40 - N'Sync rules!
Isn't it nice, together we'll always live
no sin or vice, we'll vote conservative
If you run I'll pull a gun
Give me head or you'll be dead
Salute the flag or I'll call you a fag
so won't U please B nice!
*the lines that stay with me tend to be famous ones: What rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born, for example. I did once have the whole "yes" speech from Ulysses memorized (for an acting class). My brain doesn't hold onto info the way it used to, though.
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