the nights with you
are long
red velvet
carpets
rolled out for majesty

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

tell me again
all those nice things
you said
at the bar
after i confessed
i was crazy about you

tell me again
as i hold you against the door
of my bedroom

and once you're through telling
me
i will jump on the bed
up and down
several times
like a child
like a monkey
like a lunatic

because for a night
people can be really happy
for one night
it happens
people will feel
the need to jump on a bed
repeatedly
and not care about
waking the
neighbors downstairs

because it's just one night
really, the only
and all that ever happened
before
was leading up to

this.

do not know
the color of my eyes
sunlit

this will be the last
sitting
on the staircase
of your apartment building
balled
chipping salmon-colored walls
leaning on the black
shining railing
i've gotten closer
with this railing
than i ever did
with you
i've familiarized myself
with this cold step
the mornings after
makeup dripping
on my lap and hands
hair spilling in tangled dreads
my body and soul worn inside-out
like ***** socks
from not being able
to say
i love you

this cold step
it and i
shared our moments
last