Asylum

Staring at my face flickering on the surface of a shatter-proof pane
Pretending to look out the window as the train speeds me back upstate
Imagining the contours of my reflection radiate into a train-wreck
I am going home to the graveyard- we bury the dead in our beds

Give me asylum, asylum

Walk into the menacing house that never changes over time
Years shed as smooth as snakeskin- leave it on the porch before you come in
Daughters and mothers and sisters, women who can't keep hold of their men
We gather in the graveyard united and alone again

Give me asylum, asylum

Take the train back over Harlem, under Manhattan, deep into Brooklyn
Becoming a separate entity, leaving instability behind me
Same face on shatter-proof glass but the eyes are now troubled with ghosts
Avoid the reflection in windows or your hands will start to shake


Give me asylum. asylum