Animal Life

Lyrics

Born inside the gates of a family Hardened by a Roman machinery Cast among the building sites The coiling wires, the shots collected Called out in the wake of a lottery Held inside the family gathering Mirrored beams and dog-like stretch A wandering association Murmurs in the dark confessional And rides along the road, ephemeral As an animal life Rusting in the shade of the batteries Hanging from a rope in the gallery Pacing down the balance beams Of half-remembered holidays No rush of light, no sun or belonging No joy in building, love in the finishing Chasing down an anodyne And half-reflected radiance To hide below the ancient barricade In chambers like the rooms a swallow made For an animal life Charging down the maw of the ocean I want to come close, I want to come closer I held your name inside my mouth Through all the days out wandering But called up from the mouth of oblivion Cast away like dogs from the shelter I shed the dulling armor plates That once collected radiance And, surging at the blood's perimeter: The half remembered wild interior Of an animal life