All of a sudden
I heard a slide cock back
And I was staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic
As he squeezed the trigger, Cupid laughed
And my heart froze at the muzzle's blast.
Out taking some
black and white photographs
A voice said, "The shutter speed is too fast"
My hairs rose and the air felt colder
A girl my age with a satchel on her shoulder
Her shirt said Braid and her bag had patches
She even wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
My heart seized up and my stomach too
"Please, hold my camera, I've gotta spew"
After puking, I knew she was the one
She gave me some water, and offered me gum.
All of a sudden I heard a slide cock back
And I was staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic
As he squeezed the trigger, Cupid laughed
And my heart froze at the muzzle's blast.
We conversed
for a moment that stretched forever
My hands were shaking, but I tried to be clever
Her eyes limpid pools, her hair shade of red.
Her skin pure silk…I wish I were dead.
And music of course, she was totally indie
She was fluent in French, Spanish, and Hindi
"I'm Ele," she said, "Let's get some vegan ice cream"
How beautiful at dusk, in the sun's final beams
I felt a spark when our hands gently touched
It was static of course, should have known as much.
All of a sudden I heard a slide cock back
And I was staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic
As he squeezed the trigger, Cupid laughed
And my heart froze at the muzzle's blast.
I stopped by
her work with a freshly picked daisy
She smiled and invited me to watch some Scorsese
We talked of LIFE as we sat in the dark
And went to the museum to contemplate art
Like a boa constrictor she strangled my heart
In only three weeks she was due to depart
She was off to Tibet to study abroad
Our final night we watched Harold and Maude.
My Festiva sped to the airport next day
I wept as she left 'cause she proved I'm not gay.
All of a sudden I heard a slide cock back
And I was staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic
As he squeezed the trigger, Cupid laughed
And my heart froze at the muzzle's blast.
My next paycheck
from Kinko's all spent on stamps
I wrote her on pink stationary til my hand went in cramps
But they all came back "return to sender"
What a waste of my poetic splendor
Once more into the breech on her birthday
I packaged a scarf and sent it her way.
Three months past before a reply
It was written on toilet paper-quilted 2 ply.
"I'm sorry Holden, let's just be friends
By the way can I borrow your wide-angle lens?"
She fell for Dahler, a lesser llama
A tantric monk who could bring her Nirvana
She had kept the scarf and shattered my pride
I played my Cure LP's as I wept and cried
All of a sudden I heard a slide cock back
And I was staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic
As he squeezed the trigger, Cupid laughed
And my heart froze at the muzzle's blast.