Islands

At the mouth of the open sea
The leaves will be turning red
While the man that they thought I could be
Lives in a book you read
Where the coast is uncomfortably close
The sturgeon have fled

I supposed that with a Japanese rose
I could undo you
So I pinned it to you

There's an island straight ahead
Named after a dead man
Where the crest at the tip of its wrist
Is ladled with virgin sand
Where the coast is indelibly close
We'll strike up the band

And I'll wonder whether we were the ones
Who meant nothing to you
The ones who withdrew you

Heavy the hand, heavy the harvest
Steady the hand, steady the harness
Pray for the land, pray for the locust
Pray for the land, pray for the locust

At the mouth of the open sea
The wedding is winding down
All the guests are beginning
To mourn the death of a wedding gown
Your ghost is unbearably close
Unbearably bound

Now the lights make early widows of nights
That try to outdo you
Now the crows are blackened ribbons and bows
That hang from a new you

I supposed that with a Japanese rose
I could undo you
So I pinned it to you
I pinned it to you