Holy Bones

An old man bent in half walks towards the train tracks
With his head at his ankles. I watch his hair drag
on the cracked concrete, catching trash at his feet—
Heart candy and pink rose pedals
I should have known by the cold it was Valentine’s Day
This month’s for groundhogs and dying, my father would say
The man shuffles by. Hear him groan, hear him sigh
As the train rattles up and waits
Ribbons trail from his shoes like the ones you’d use
To tie your hair in a halo braid
Baby, deep in the heart of Rome
There’s a sanctified crown of flowers
That would be better blessed as your headdress
I’d brand your name on my face if you asked me to
I’d kill the winter with my shadow so your dogwoods can bloom
Though it seems like I forgot, there’s this plan that I got
To steal a present luminescent as you
Ain’t no sacred price too great, no law that I won’t break,
To see you shine like a stained glass saint
Baby, deep in the heart of Rome
There’s a sanctified crown of flowers
That rests on holy bones encased in gold
But it would be better blessed as your headdress
I’ll walk the coast till I crawl
Bathe in pool hall stalls
Steal for my meals
Feed the hounds at my heels
Float unknown into Rome
In a cargo hold
And snatch the crown, on a moonless night,
Right off the skull of St. Valentine
Then I’ll smash his fucking head in
Baby, I’d risk eternal fire
To see your pretty head crowned in flowers
Don’t you cry for St. Valentine
He won’t mind. No he wont mind
He’s been dead for so long, but we still got time
Elena please
Come on, baby, say you’re still mine