i stumble through life as usual
i dont know what i’m gonna do
i got no “plans”
i really have no clue
the morning arrives…not unexpectedly
the earth revolves
the sun sets
the living rooms
the breathing apparatus
the moving men
a thousand islands dressing
through driftwood waves and steal guitars
i see the days of my phantoms holiday
all spirit-tahiti
all flowers and a distant native song
i know paul gauguin
i say go go gauguin
i say go again gauguin
i got a beachcombers hut
i got a sky blue swimming pool
i got my soothing lagoon of memories
i swim thru them for you
some are so faded n threadbare
i realise how sad it is that all things will be forgotten
the things we said
the things we did
the things we created
the things we played with
all of it wiped away….where?
but i’m forgetting it already
as i trawl through the pools
and i dive deep but the blackness dismays me
i get up real early n trudge through the forest to the sea
i’m so mixed up
memories are superimposed on each other
memories all stored carelessly
the worms of forgetfulness have gnawed at their corners
they have been exposed to doubt
and have become pure white
oh my memories
i swim in the sea
the sea of memory
with all its terrible monsters
how i hate them coming up to taste me
monstrous memories of icthy-o-saurus
i can feel his needle teeth in my arm
i can feel the poison entering my blood
who am i now?
the sea is cloying and smothering
i am a little boy
and old ladies with viridian lipstick
and cigarette breath
all kiss me me and pinch my cheeks
i am scared stiff
the sea turns nasty
all choppy and the spray in yer eyes
a rainbow arcs above us with its roy g biv
i see it through the green glass of the water
i see it through the green grass of my idyll meadow
in english narnia during the good times
cavorting with those lovely woodland folk
i am just a boy with flowers in my hair n little goat feet
i whirl n i twirl n i never run outta breath
i leap from one thing to the next
i leap to my island home which is waiting on me
hand n foot
the island assumes its manifest human shape as princess lulutiti
she solemnly approaches me with all her bounty
no wait am i marlon brando all burnt n dying?
am i tyrone power and my heart is seizing up
right here on the set?
no wait am i jim cook having my last sandwich (no spear-mint!)?
am i marco boleyn having my last ride?
no
youre noah veil
says princess lulutiti
as she makes the palms sway
as she makes the hills undulate
as she pulls down the stars and sets them on her brow
as she straddles the horizon and rubs against its length
as she fixes up all my pains
as she takes away my ache my takeaway ache
as she unzips my olde mansuit so gently
oh noah she says
oh look how new you are underneath it all….!
my friend paul is there painting it all
go go gauguin i say
you make it look so easy man!
i had a lotta practice says paul
oh soft summer nights
oh naive and warm island people
oh kava kava
oh coconut milk and wild raspberries
and dark chocolate from holland
and opium from china
and perfumes from india
and crystal skulls from lemuria
whose cargo is all this…?
lulutiti smiles
noah you have come to the islands of the dead
this is your mind randomly flashing
these are the thoughts of the dying man
lulutiti is so big and now so old
she cradles me in her mountains and valleys
she rocks me in her warm earth
she soothes me to sleep
a million other men sleep beside me
a million other women and children
all sleeping somewhere safe
waiting for the right opportunity
dreaming it up
watching from a distance
yeah and
aloha