The Policeman Is Dead

The light is leaving us all
West street–the shutters shut dark
The flowers flow and sing in the drift
The light is leaving us all
And in the night the cuckoos call
To the light that is leaving us all
Far away the red barn burns
Oh rose you are dead
And around you
The storm kicks her heels
And sucks
The light which is leaving us now
And I hear the steps in the night
And I catch the beats of my heart

And the lantern is blinding
And bright burn the wedges in our eyes
And the light is leaving us all
On long lane where we fall
Into the causeway
I heard the stars split open
By the post–by the Moon
By the chapel–call the surgeon
The surgeon is dead
Call the policeman
The policeman is dead
And the Moon is drunk
And the nightnurse is sick
And the murderer's dead
The assembly is killing time
And the clock has slowed to sugar
By the way–have you heard?
The light is leaving us all
So may I recall you
The light is leaving you now
Sly days sleep and fly
Little villages drop down
And sleep dull dreams full of milk

Till you open up the curtains
And observe and obey
She opens up her eyes
And she knows your name
The light is leaving us all
We are marked and we are named
Beyond the barn
Where the young girl stumbles and falls
Between her toes the flowers grow
And on her eyes the flowers die
And from her womb
The light is leaving her child
And gunshot and knife
And choke her neck
And bury her in deadtree
Or fall her to the floor
The light is leaving her all
Always and utterly
In the mud her prints are ghost
And the candle burns in the floor
Oh badness–sing on!
The light is leaving us all
Over in the Sun the eyesparks trip
And by the seashore the children skip

Watch the icecream watch the maiden
Watch the killer strong
And please read the first book
And consider the fall
The light is leaving us all