[Jeffrey]

a fountain

On the 8th of July, on Elliott's Bridge
I made my pilgrimage. Halfway across,
I watched you taking off, trailing flame
(shifting to smoke, etching your name
upon those silver skies). I sat on the
edge, stranded in my thoughts, alone
on the last legs (shaking, quaking) of
that pilgrimage. The image of your rusty
red rocket rising to the upper echelons
of the Heavenly Host, the moth-eaten
sheets on those holy ghosts that cruise
the air ways, we gaze at them, backs
on the grass, finding faces and fantasies
and old friends & enemies & critters &
I toss stones into the depths of the
ice-eaten waterway below me, risking
the trolls, paying the penny's toll with
these scattered thoughts worth a moment
in time.

Marching side by side, heartbeats steady,
our hands locked as we cross campus,
sweaters and scarves, boots and braces,
chains dangling from our wallets and the
snare and bass drum rumbling in the back
of our throats. Note for note, we rebuild
the song we learned on the 8th of July:

Baby, don't go. Baby, don't you leave.
Darling, the governor's on the line, granting
me a full reprieve. Oh, I'm coming home,
just spend one more night alone and it will
be your last. Baby, I'm coming as fast as
these legs will allow. Darling, I'll see you then
if you just risk your here and now, tie a
red ribbon on the oak tree. Baby, don't go.
Baby, wait for me. Honey, don't you leave.

[Ordinary Sarah]

Haha, this gave me a tiny bit of deja vu at the end... have you ever heard the Bagman's Gambit by the Decemberists?

[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by SarahTheGuitarist

Haha, this gave me a tiny bit of deja vu at the end... have you ever heard the Bagman's Gambit by the Decemberists?

I haven't. Is it similar? I was attempting a pastiche of sorts of blues lyrics.

[Ordinary Sarah]

Well, the last stanza really reminded me of it, except from a different perspective. The song is about a girl who is in love with a convict, so she helps him escape over and over again, just to hear him say, "They'll never catch me now, no... they'll never catch me now!" And she still never has him.

Baby, don't go. Baby, don't you leave.
Darling, the governor's on the line, granting
me a full reprieve.

This line especially reminded me of the song.

I'm not sure how blues-ey the song is, but it's really great. One of my favorites. You should check it out.