I can still make out the chalk lines

in the corner lot

you swore you erased them

with four long winters

and a garden hose that spanned five blocks



but you can still get into those rooms

where even the heatervents don't blow

and nobody knows the lock combinations

cause that's a place nobody even bothers to go



and now you're staggering down the alleyway

and now you're halfway up the fire escape

and the only thing that ever keeps you awake

is that one way ticket home



I keep trying to get close to the mystery

and I walk that way sometimes in my dreams

where we dance on checkerboard masonry

my dress is ripping at the seams

and you say you've got my fortune

stuffed in your vest pocket

from chinese food two hours ago

and I dare break out the jack knife

and tear open that silk pocket

instead of saying is that so



ah but this was just a sweet dream

with my cheek pressed against yours

this was a game of our feet

played out on checkerboard floors



and I guess that I've won.



You insist on playing that piano

with the four broken keys

and I am scrubbing down the hardwood

down on my knees

we've peeled the paint off the windows

and let the light climb in

we put christmas lights on the fire escape

i can see them glowin on your skin

and now I am

halfway out the window and

you've got your ticket home

I'm halfway out the window

I guess I should have known,

but how could I have known

I am halfway out the window.