How Long

Melissa floats on her back
Exhales into that marble sky
Three months of cops and blacktops
Turn to air with every sigh

We're spitting pits into the grass now
How long can a sweetness last now
How long 'til this is the past we can't believe we're looking back on?

Someone screams, "A water snake!"
It's slicing the skin of the lake
With many others in its wake
How many were there?
I can't say

We strip our suits off for the day
How long can a sweetness stay?
How long 'til we look back and say
We can't believe we lived that way?

The storm corrals us to our cars
Like a wet jaw snapping herding dog
With a crack, the lightning starts
And bits of hail bounce off the tar

We're driving cringing with every pelt
How long 'til a sweetness melts?
How long 'til there rings a bell?
How long 'til there rings a bell?
How long 'til there rings a bell
That signals us?
Return from hell