Phantom Doll

raggedy ann came out to play
copping a thin disguise against the day
painted a face across the mask
victim of the looking glass:
store windows are cruel
mannequin charms outshine her own
running away from her reflection home
hangin her head behind the door
sleepin on the kitchen floor

in glorious dreams
she walks outside her skin
her face so fine, her waist so thin
her voice like chimes and mandolins
beautiful phantom doll
saturday night on circus street
beating a long and ill-conceived retreat
carnival barkers bar her way
she never hears a word they say

in glorious dreams
she strolls, the boys beseech
the venus queen of venice beach
so near, so ever out of reach
beautiful phantom doll

midnight, the struggle is over
rise up, lily-white delicate shoulders
outside, the poets all know her
all of her children are waiting...

beggars and wrecks line junkyard lanes
tiffany slippers click-clack through the rain
rickety bones and sheer chiffon
dancin on the mayors lawn

in glorious dreams
they glide through gilded rooms
the drakes and gravely pale dragoons
the wasted daughters of the moon
beautiful phantom doll

raggedy andy wrote this song
scribbled it here where oceans meet the dawn
scuttled away on hansen claws
cinderella sailors draw

on glorious dreams
sunrise, she spins her spells
on rising tides of wishing wells
on aphrodite lotus shells
beautiful phantom doll