For Whom the Belly Tolls

May I have a moment please,
before the guillotine,
to lament on her wet hair

Tousled over her left shoulder
wearing a Corfu t-shirt
she took as her nightwear

I could slip on my own salt sobs
seeking the cold embrace
of the fridge freezer aisle

Catwalk into the dog pound, now
with my flesh wounds dressed
to spring-summer style

For whom the belly tolls
For who the tap drips dry and the bath water runs cold

For whom the belly tolls
For who all time ticks by until
one joke becomes old

There is beauty in the world,
I have been told by people I've nothing but trust in
Piled up with the cotton buds,
among the toothpicks,
inside the dark of the dustbin

Waited outside of "Jersey Boys"
for what seemed like a year,
a life lived in the vestibule

Scout yourself as a one-man team,
you're a one club man
denied a testimonial

(No knot in the waistband)
Persuade me to give up and leave quietly
(No reason to grandstand)
File me alongside the obscene

It's 7: 20 Monday morning
I look to the man with
no suit for a warning

If open to reason/collusion
May the way that I go be
regrettable
gruesome
In exchange for one thing:
"I beg do not take me today"
god willing please let me stay

For whom the belly tolls
For who the tap drips dry and the bath water runs cold

For whom the belly tolls
For who all time ticks by until
one joke becomes old