Silence is the Captain
of my nights

His ship slips quietly
like words made of smoke

By the low light of the moon
he guides me

Both lost in this deep ocean
of love and loneliness.

A few months I haven't called him

At the beck and call at any hour
And the shortest notice
A dial to him has saved many an emergency

Last night a broken female voice
On the other side of the wire
Mumbled he died on May 13

Left her with three daughters
At forty at short notice

The plumber is dead

Now who would clear
My choked wash basin

The plumber is dead
And I've no other number to call

I couldn't see her face
Gauge the faceless sorrow
At the other side of the wire

The plumber is dead

I must find another
And then rejoice
Forgetting the widow's choked voice

He knew what women wanted
After all, he was a man of the world
None of that namby pamby stuff for his woman
Oh no, he was a practical man
So when she opened her presents
To find an iron and a hoover
She was ecstatic
She was that ecstatic
That when he came home the next day
To find his shirts pressed
The house spotless
Her gone
He couldn’t believe it.

Lit cigarette sits in the ashtray
Bottle caps scattered all around
Silence the only sound
She takes a drag as he takes a sip
Next to each other but a million miles apart
Out in the world it's a shell made of rainbows and butterflies
Hand holding and loving stares
Behind these four walls it all falls apart
She wonders where she's gone
What used to feel so right now feels so wrong
He looks in her eyes to find the light that's gone away
There's nothing he won't do to bring her back
But it's out of his hands
He'll be patient, he'll wait
In his heart he knows she'll be back one day
She traces get steps but seems to have lost her way
He can see she cares
Even through the blank stares
He can see her under there