A Long Slow Slide

Lights are bright in the circus
The geeks and the freaks all light cigarettes and laugh at your misery
While the white of the curtain closing crushes your heart
The inertia of loneliness tears your flesh apart
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
Down
Once the neon is gone
There's still that golden splinter at your side
His manners are charming
But who are you fooling
You're still nobody's bride
And Bukowski's widow
Haunts each empty seat on the ferris wheel
As ghoulish lovers collide in a collage of kisses that they steal
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
Down
And outside your window you can see the circus it's lurching
with rings of smoke
You laugh halfheartedly at the punchline
Not realizing they've made you the joke
And inside you're heart a war is raging
A region still untamed
The worst fear I can imagine is for the mystery to be named
Is for the mystery to be named
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
Down