Gordon Haskell

Night: her sable dome scattered with diamonds,
Fused my dust from a light year,
Squeezed me to her breast, sowed me with carbon,
Strung my warp across time.
Gave me each horse, sunrise and graveyard,
Told me only I was her;
Bid ne face the east closed me in questions
Built the sky for my dawn ...

Cleaned my feet of mud, followed the empty
Zebra ride to the Cirkus,
Past a painted cage, spoke to the paybox
Glove which wrote on my tonque -
Pushed me down a slide to the arena,
Megaphonium fanfare
In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster
Bid me join the parade ...

"Worship!" - cried the clown. "I'm a T.V.
Making bandsmen go clockwork,
See the slinky seal Cirkus policeman,
Bareback ladies have fish."
Strongmen by his feet, plate-spinning statesman,
Accrobatically juggling -
Bids his tamers go quiet the tumblers
Lest the mirror stop turning ...

Elephants forgot, force-fed on stale chalk,
Ate the floors of their cages.
Strongmen lost their hair, paybox collapsed and
Lions sharpened their teeth.
Gloves raced round the ring, stallions stampeded
Pandemonium seesaw ...
I ran for the door, ringmaster shouted,
"All the fun of the Cirkus!"

Indoor fireworks amuse your kitchen staff
Dusting plastic garlic plants
They snigger in the draught
When you ride throw the parlour
Wearing nothing but your armour -
Playing Indoor Games.

One string puppet shows amuse
Your sycophantic friends
Who cheer your rancid recipes
In fear they might offend,
Whilst you loaf on your sofa
Sporting falsies and a toga -
Playing Indoor Games, Indoor Games.

Your mean teetotum spins arouse your seventh wife
Who pats her sixty little skins
And reinsures your life,
Whilst you sulk in your sauna
'Cos you lost your jig-saw corner -
Playing Indoor Games, Indoor Games.

Each afternoon you train baboons to sing
Or swim in purple perspex water wings.
Come Saturday jump chopper, chelsea brigade.
High bender-trender it's all Indoor Games.

No ball bagatelle incites
Your children to corspire.
They slide across your frying pan
And fertilise your fire;
Still you and Jones go madder
Broken bones - broken ladder -
Hey Ho ...

Happy family, one hand clap, four went
by and none came back.
Brother Judas, ash and sack, swallowed
aphrodiciac
Rufus, Silas, Jonah too sang, "We'll blow
our own canoes,"
Poked a finger in the zoo, punctured
all the ballyhoo.

Whipped the world and beat the clock,
wound up with their share of stock.
Silver Rolls from golden rock,
shaken by a knock, knock, knock.
Happy family, wave that grin,
what goes round must surely spin;
Cheescake, mousetrap, Grip-Pipe-Thynne
cried out, "We're not Rin-Tin-Tin."

Uncle Rufus grew his nose,
threw away his cirkus clothes
Cousin Silas grew a beard,
drew another flask of weird
Nasty Jonah grew a wife,
Judas grew his pruning knife.
Happy family, one hand clap,
four went on but none came back.

Happy family, pale applause,
each to his revolving doors.
Silas searching, Rufus neat,
Jonah caustic, Jude so sweet.
Let their sergeant mirror spin
if we lose the barbers win;
Happy family, one hand clap,
four went on but none came back.

Grass in your hair stretched like a lion in the sun
Restlessly turned moistened your mouth with your tonque.
Pouring my wine your eyes caged mine glowing
Touching your face my finger strayed knowing
I called you lady of the dancing water.

Blown autumn leaves shed to the fire where you laid me.
Burn slow to ash just as my days now seem to be.
I feel you still always your eyes glowing
Remembered hours salt, earth and flowers flowing.
Farewell my lady of the dancing water.

Farewell the temple master's bells
His kiosk and his black worm seed
Courtship solely of his word
With Eden guaranteed.
For now Prince Rupert's tears of glass
Make saffron sabbath eyelids bleed
Scar the sacred tablet of wax
On which the Lizards feed.

Wake your reason's hollow vote
Wear your blizzard season coat
Burn a bridge and burn a boat
Stake a Lizard by the throat.

Go Polonius or kneel
The reapers name their harvest dawn
All your tarnished devil's spoons
Will rust beneath our corn.
Now bears Prince Rupert's garden roam
Across his rain tree shaded lawn
Lizard bones become the clay ?
And there a Swan is born

Wake your reasons' hollow vote
Wear your blizzard season coat
Burn a bridge and burn a boat
Stake a Lizard by the throat.

Gone soon Piepowder's moss-weed court
Round which upholstered Lizards sold
Visions to their leaden flock
Of rainbows' ends and gold.
Now tales Prince Rupert's peacock brings
Of walls and trumpets thousand fold
Prophets chained for burning masks
And reels of dreams unrolled...

I go out most nights attracted by the lights
Listen to the jazz at Harry's bar
And I know it won't be long before they play that song
Do you know how wonderful you are?
It's a sentimental sound that make me wanna fool around
With somebody who is wishing on a star
I'll pull my hat down low go up and say hello
Do you know how wonderful you are?
I've always struggled with the art of conversation
And there'll be those for whom the song has no appeal
But I know it works for me and I'm sure you will agree
That it illustrates exactly how I feel
Things can happen fast and some things are built to last
I've seen it all go down in Harry's bar
And though we've only just begun this show will run and run
Do you know how wonderful you are?

What does it matter if it's a quarter to two?
The love of my life has been long overdue
What does it matter if it's three or it's four?
Don't even try to make sense of it all

I guess I got all the time in the world
Guess I got all the time in the world
So lock me up in heaven and throw away the key
'Cause if that's what they call home sweet home

Then it's home sweet home to me
Must be the only place to be
Am I still dreaming am I asleep?
How did I get in to this water so deep?
What does it matter if it?s five after five?
you're giving me the time of my life

[Chorus]
Whether the skies are cloudy or blue
you're showing me just how little I knew
I used to wander aimlessly
To some other place I thought I had to be

[Chorus]

Whenever you do that voodoo it puts me in a trance
Why don't you do that voodoo dance
Whenever you do that voodoo it puts me in a trance
C'mon and do that voodoo dance
Loving you makes perfect sense
It's one on one in the present tense
It's a whirlpool I'm gonna dive on in
Bolt the door dim the lights let the carnival begin
[chorus, etc]
You're a masterpiece of modern art
You got a sacred soul in a sacred heart
Yeh I'm in love with you and it's my thing
I thank my lucky stars for the wonderland I'm in
[chorus, etc]
And whether or not it's magic I'm in the hands of the divine
Whether or not it's magic I get a tingle down the spine
And it's just the way I like it
Tell me what am I to do tell me what am I to do with you?
[chorus, etc]

What does it matter if it's a quarter to two?
The love of my life has been long overdue
What does it matter if it's three or it's four?
Don't even try to make sense of it all

I guess I got all the time in the world
Guess I got all the time in the world
So lock me up in heaven and throw away the key
'Cause if that's what they call home sweet home

Then it's home sweet home to me
Must be the only place to be
Am I still dreaming am I asleep?
How did I get in to this water so deep?
What does it matter if it?s five after five?
you're giving me the time of my life

[Chorus]
Whether the skies are cloudy or blue
you're showing me just how little I knew
I used to wander aimlessly
To some other place I thought I had to be

[Chorus]