Rusty and Blue

How can I sweep these words into a cluster

Put 'em in a pile like feathers on your floor?

Voyages, and sea forests, deep blue, and rusty

Sew 'em in a satchel, and leave 'em by your door

People's lives, people whose lives

Fascinate me

All my life, all my life

I wanted to understand

There's a man on the corner

He's got the moon in his eyes

He comes here to visit

And he wears a disguise

And I wonder if he's looking

For friends or for truth

I think he's calling for some

In that telephone booth

And the smiling woman answers

She defeats fear with her eyes

She thinks life's fine

So I think she's wise

And my heart wants to give her

A gift so grand

That it will speak for me

And tell her just where I stand

And I stand on a pillar

And it's melting like ice

Of years that I've lived

And some I've lived twice

And I have all these feathers

And leaves on my floor

That I don't want just blowing

Around loose any more

And I feel a need to gather

Rummage and fetch

Shake out my life

And give it a stretch

To bring shells to the surface

And show them to you

Gifts from the sea floor

Rusty and blue

Now, these two lives

Hold my attention quite well

You see lives almost never

Run parallel

Like the boards in the flooring

All deep grained, and worn

Fated, and fitted

Long before we were born

People's lives, people's whose lives

Fascinate me

All my life, all my life

I've wanted to understand

Understand