king canute in portland

from the 1950s whence i once escaped

i dream i’m in a black van speeding up the road

everything i am everything ive been

no one loves you

no women no children no one out there at all now

its dark and its uncomfortable in your dream

you tear past towns and shops and lights and signs

music playing somewhere else you catch the drift

no one is at home no one is at work no one is anywhere at all

unfathomable depths youre drifting in

you not awake in this sleep never dreaming or not

how far is it now someone with a voice like yours croaks out

300 miles steve says a voice from beyond the barrier

a voice on the other side of consciousness

a voice coming in from a universal parallel

a voice i cling to the idea a voice

in my dream im fighting in a war

sometimes i win sometimes i lose but its struggle all the way

the  big black van rushes headlong into the big black night

its all there is all there ever was

we chase the future heedlessly

we move through the void surrounding us

we negotiate our passage

is  it black velvet or black steel out there i cant tell

i cant see

i can hear something

the throb of the engines the rumble of the wheels

the singing road like a chorus of greek women

we never seem any closer or any futher

my head lolls my back hurts my legs cant stretch out

i only feel numbness everywhere

where are we now?

i dunno someone says

i fall backwards into my own head

goodnight whoever you are

im so tired and confused

goodnight