Senior Prom

(album: The Kennedy Suite - 2014)

Son, you got a lot of 'splaining to do
Reporters round your neck like a beard of bees
That hit man at the back, he's got his eye on you
But I'm the one who can take you where I please
So give me your elbow
A flash photo for the folks at home
This is just like my senior prom
The inside of your arm is soft as I lead you, Lee
Like a new-born Marxist colt at the county fair
You'd never know from that thin-lipped little smirk of yours
That the icy hand of fate was between your knees
Speaking of clammy hands
It's like I'm back in Lubbock with Mary Francis
Working to retrieve that corsage pin that fell into her blouse
And she tried to shoot me too
In a theatre just like you
And it was when I wrestled that gun away
(Just like today) that I looked into her captivating,
Mesmerizing, hypnotizing,
Texas blue-sky, Russian-defecting eyes….
My nose at the back of your neck as the elevator slows
Doors cut in two by the axe of the TV lights
I want to tell the world what we both know is true
When that hit man from the first verse shatters you
Mouth to mouth
Your last breath in mine
Death cutting in
Like an All-State Lineman
Minus the blood
I could swear I was back at my senior prom
If this ambulance were a Fairlane
And your black eye was my school ring
I would swear it was my senior prom…