1. NIGHT OF THE SWALLOW

The night doesn’t like it.
Looks just like your face on the moon, to me.
And I won’t let you do
What you want to do.

It’s funny how, even now,
You’re laughing.

I won’t let you do it.

If you go, I’ll let the law know,
And they’ll head you off when you touch the ground.
Ooh, please, don’t go through with this.
I don’t like the sound of it.

It’s funny how, even now,
You’re miles away.

I won’t let you do it.
I won’t let you do it.
I won’t let you go through with it.

"meet them over at dover.
I’ll just pilot the motor,
Take them over the water

"with a hired plane,
And no names mentioned.
Tonight’s the night of the flight.
Before you know,
I’ll be over the water

"like a swallow.
There’s no risk.
I’ll whisk them up in no moonlight.
And though pigs can fly,
They’ll never find us
Posing as the night,
And I’m home before the morning."

In malta, catch a swallow,
For all of the guilty--to set them free.
Wings fill the window,
And they beat and bleed.

They hold the sky on the other side
Of borderlines.

"meet them over at dover.
I’ll just pilot the motor,
Take them over the water,
Like a swallow flying to malta,

"with a hired plane,
And no names mentioned.
Tonight’s the night of the flight.
Before you know,
I’ll be over the water
Like a swallow.

"there’s no risk.
I’ll whisk them up in no moonlight.
And though pigs can fly,
They’ll never find us
Posing as the night,
And I’m home before the morning.

"give me a break!
Ooh, let me try!
Give me something to show
For my miserable life!
Give me something to take!
Would you break even my wings,
Just like a swallow?

"let me--let me go
With a hired plane,
And no names mentioned.
Tonight’s the night of the flight.
Before you know,
I’ll be over the water
Like a swallow.

("let me--let me go!")
"there’s no risk.
I’ll whisk them up in no moonlight.
And though pigs can fly,
They’ll never find us
Posing as the night,
And I’m home before the morning.

("let me--let me go!")
"with a hired plane,
And no names mentioned.
Tonight’s the night of the flight.
Before you know,
I’ll be over the water
Like a swallow.

("let me--let me go!")
"there’s no risk.
I’ll whisk them up in no moonlight.
And though pigs can fly,
They’ll never find us
Posing as the night,
And I’m home before the morning--"

But you’re not a swallow!


2. HOUDINI

I wait at the table,
And hold hands with weeping strangers,
Wait for you
To join the group.

The tambourine jingle-jangles.
The medium roams and rambles.
Not taken in,
I break the circle.

I want this man
To go away now.

With a kiss
I'd pass the key
And feel your tongue
Teasing and receiving.
With your spit
Still on my lip,
You hit the water.

Him and I in the room
To prove you are with us too.

He's using code that only you and I know.
This is no trick of his.
This is your magic.

I'd catch the cues,
Watching you,
Hoping you'd do something wrong.

Everybody thinks you'll never make it,
But every time,
You escape:

'Rosabel believe,
Not even eternity
Can hold Houdini!'

"Rosabel, believe!"

Through the glass
I'd watch you breathe.
("Not even eternity--")
Bound and drowned,
And paler than you've ever been.
("--will hold Houdini!")

With your life
The only thing in my mind--
We pull you from the water!

(Houdini!)

You
("Hou-di-ni...")
And I
And Rosabel believe.