The flowers were sleeping Face down in the rain Purple on Tuesday Silver again Someone said— Wait For what? The sun? The train? The little black thought That keeps changing its name? I found a garden At the end of the clock No fence No keeper No key No lock Just green Green Green And a sky full of eyes Watching the hours Forget how to die Time grows sideways here Roots through the air Yesterday’s laughing Tomorrow’s not there Lie down Look up Let the whole thing spin There’s a garden at the end of time And everybody gets in I saw my face in a puddle It looked about nine Then nineteen Then ninety Then— Never mind A bee flew backward Through a violet flame I asked where it came from It gave me your name Your name Your name No— Something before it Before they called you Whatever they called you Before you learned To answer The grass knows Ask the grass Time grows sideways here Roots through the air Yesterday’s laughing Tomorrow’s not there Lie down Look up Let the whole thing spin There’s a garden at the end of time And everybody gets in The guitar in the distance Cuts blue through the red One note Bent Another Left hanging Not dead Nothing dies here It changes its clothes Bone into dirt Dirt into rose Rose into perfume Perfume into breath Breath into somebody Frightened of death Funny Funny little wheel You spend your whole life Running from something That’s turning beneath your heel I met an old woman Made out of light She had stars in her pockets And mud on her tights She said— You’ve been here before I said— I’d remember She said— You always say that Then walked into September September? It’s March No It’s raining No That’s applause No That’s the ocean Chewing on God Time grows sideways here Roots through the air Yesterday’s laughing Tomorrow’s not there Lie down Look up Let the whole thing spin There’s a garden at the end of time And everybody gets in Now the drums come closer Slow thunder Then heat Bass crawling under The soles of your feet The sky turns electric The flowers stand tall And suddenly nobody Is frightened at all Play it Don’t explain it Play it Let it bend Let the note go somewhere The words cannot pretend Higher Hold it Let it burn through the blue There’s something on the other side Listening to you I saw the child I saw the man I saw the wolf Open his hand Nothing inside Nothing to prove Just five little fingers Learning to move I saw the liar Lose his tongue I saw the old Become the young I saw my shadow Leave without me Good Let it go It was getting heavy Time grows sideways here Roots through the air Yesterday’s laughing Tomorrow’s not there Lie down Look up Let the whole thing spin There’s a garden at the end of time And everybody gets in Then everything stops No drums No stars No yesterday No scars Just one small flower Opening Closing Opening Closing Like breathing Like nothing Like everything And somewhere very far away A clock remembers Tick Tick Tick But nobody listens.
