Roses on White Wallpaper

I got drunk twice

In a room

With roses

On white wallpaper

I remember the wallpaper

But the room?

The first time

I got drunk there

It was for a movie release party

But I couldn’t sit through

The movie

It was one of those

Long, lingering shot movies

Where I’m staring at a coffee cup

For twenty minutes

Wondering why the fuck

Anybody thought

This was going to interest me

I snatched a bottle

From the back of the open bar

While the bartender

Was flirting with somebody’s assistant

And I found myself in this room

Now, I can tell you

That there are roses

On the white wallpaper

But I know

I can’t do them justice

Because whoever painted these roses--

I mean, they were painted on

And the detailing

On the petals

And the little water droplets

Falling off

The petals

I was captivated

Three days later

I walk out of that room

And I tell myself--

I’m done

With drinking

Because once you’ve been

In a room like that

With wallpaper like that

You never want

To fuck yourself up again

And, you know,

That lasts for a few weeks

Then there’s another movie release party

At the very same house

And, by the way, I don’t have a fucking clue

Who lives in this house

I don’t even know

Who’s making these coffee cup movies

That nobody likes

But I’ll tell you

I was excited to get back in that room

With the white wallpaper

But I went looking around
And I couldn’t find it

This house is huge, babe

It is--

Hallways on hallways

On hallways

Like that fuckin’ hotel

In ‘The Shining’

So what do I do?

I retrace my steps

I snatch a bottle

While the bartender

Is hitting on

Somebody’s wife

This time around

But I can’t control

All the circumstances

And I go stumblin’

And--Bam!

Back in the room

And this time I’m drunk

And I’m touchin’ the roses

I’m putting my nose

Up against them

I’m trying to smell them

And I’m telling myself

I can

I can smell them

Like I’m some kind

Of Willy Wonka

Then I’m ripping at it

I have to have it

I have to have this wallpaper

For what?

I don’t have walls

I don’t have a house

I don’t even have coffee cups

To make movies about

But I tear down the wallpaper

And I go running

And when I wake up

A few days later

Dried out

I know

For real this time

That I’m never going to drink again

And there I am

Laying in the middle of an empty

In-ground pool

Covered

In roses