Dudley Saunders - Jacob's Ladder

the camera cut a second out of time
one light flashed then walked out of your eye
close the door on the people in the hall
in this jewel lives a flaw

and I've been walking almost empty piers
where figures wheel and bend and disappear
close the door on the people in the hall
in this jewel lives a flaw
where I can see everything
distort and sing
through your twisting eye
as it goes dry
while the wood in windows
cuts your face up into squares of black and white
through the long heedless night
you can say I'm wrong
you can be right this time
right over the county line
to a county that's not dry
and how my car would fly

sweet saint J&B
pour a blanket, cover me
singing 'jesus 'fore I'll be a slave
my body set me free"
still the heat inside these walls
cool the veins inside my head
something steadies something falls
something whispers something
that he said
but softer than he said
much softer

everything is whispering
in traffic in the streets
refrains, repeats
residing somewhere folded up so lightly
turning in the sheets
through the long heedless night
you can say I'm wrong
you can be right this time
right over the county line
to a county that's not dry
and how my car would fly

ticking
winding
shuffling
we are climbing
jacob's ladder
I'm gonna sit down on that golden golden throne
but not just now