A Good Surprise

I had a little fire

Going in the bathtub

And he was on the bed

I kneeled

I kneeled and I prayed to him

Said--

Make me god-fearing

Make me like a preacher

In the army of dust

Make me good

Make me clean

Make me of the fire

The woman at the front desk

Looked at me funny

When I asked

For a room around the back

But then she just handed me a key

And went right back to reading

Her People magazine

Circulation for dead brain cells

That’s what it is

The Man on the Bed

Only lets me read stimulation

And presence for the soul

Ink carries sin in it

That’s what he says

Only the chosen can listen

Only the righteous can hear

I drag myself into the bathroom

And toast newspaper

Over the fire

I knew if we picked

A lonely enough motel

The smoke detectors

Wouldn’t work

And we’d have all night

To crisp and blacken

Once the newspapers are burnt

Then go the books

And the baubles

And everything else

We took from the house

In Perdon City

Once it’s been consumed
By the fire

Then we’ll see

Where to go next

The Man on the Bed

Doesn’t tell me

To go one step, one step

He just says ‘Now’

And I dig a little knife

Into the bottom of my foot

So I’ll remember

That the air is only here

In the moment

There is no tomorrow air

No next week oxygen

Nothing there for us

More than a few miles

Into the desert

We got here on a flat tire

And a quarter tank of gas

But we still got here

And that’s all that matters

The Man on the Bed

Isn’t sure I’ll be ready

When the time comes

To put him in the bathtub
Let alone myself

But I know the strength that comes

From having found

A language

Only you can speak

With words

Only you

Can hear

Across from the motel

There’s a bar

Named something

After a cowboy

Or a horse

Or a cowboy and his horse

I take a second

While the fire pops

To peek out of the bathroom window

All the way towards the ceiling

And get a look

At the people outside the bar

Smoking and showing off

Their motorcycles

Part of me would love

To walk over there

Wearing my best dress

And my nicest shoes

With my hair all done up

And my make-up just right

Part of me would love

To ask somebody

A cowboy

To dance with me

Even for just one song

Part of me would tell

The Man in the Bed

When I got back

That I had been to Heaven

And that it smells

Like fresh bourbon

And cinnamon wood polish

But there’s no time

For showing off

When salvation

Is the prize you’re after

I bring more kindling

For the fire

And I hear the Man on the Bed

Start to wake up

A little cloth over the mouth
And he’ll be back asleep

In no time flat

Don’t want him awake

When he meets

The fire

Then it wouldn’t be

A surprise

And everybody loves

A good surprise