The Policeman Is Dead

The light is leaving us all

West street–the shutters shut dark

The flowers flow and sing in the drift

The light is leaving us all

And in the night the cuckoos call

To the light that is leaving us all

Far away the red barn burns

Oh rose you are dead

And around you

The storm kicks her heels

And sucks

The light which is leaving us now

And I hear the steps in the night

And I catch the beats of my heart

And the lantern is blinding

And bright burn the wedges in our eyes

And the light is leaving us all

On long lane where we fall

Into the causeway

I heard the stars split open

By the post–by the Moon

By the chapel–call the surgeon

The surgeon is dead

Call the policeman

The policeman is dead

And the Moon is drunk

And the nightnurse is sick

And the murderer's dead

The assembly is killing time

And the clock has slowed to sugar

By the way–have you heard?

The light is leaving us all

So may I recall you

The light is leaving you now

Sly days sleep and fly

Little villages drop down

And sleep dull dreams full of milk

Till you open up the curtains

And observe and obey

She opens up her eyes

And she knows your name

The light is leaving us all

We are marked and we are named

Beyond the barn

Where the young girl stumbles and falls

Between her toes the flowers grow

And on her eyes the flowers die

And from her womb

The light is leaving her child

And gunshot and knife

And choke her neck

And bury her in deadtree

Or fall her to the floor

The light is leaving her all

Always and utterly

In the mud her prints are ghost

And the candle burns in the floor

Oh badness–sing on!

The light is leaving us all

Over in the Sun the eyesparks trip

And by the seashore the children skip

Watch the icecream watch the maiden

Watch the killer strong

And please read the first book

And consider the fall

The light is leaving us all