Acme by Dancing Mice

End of days in simple colours
Sure of black and white
Dressed to kill in perfect cover
Wings to tame the night

No-one sees you watching
No-one hears you fly
Watching there is no-one
No-one there to try

Page by page and three by three
The truth emerges plain
Standing to the third degree
With standards to maintain

No-one saw you watching
No-one felt the pain
Watching over no-one
Again, again, again

Generations change and see
The shadows in the sky
Re-make law and order
Wave the amateurs goodbye

No-one wants you watching
Truth emerges plain
No-one watching no-one
Again, again, again

Falling star has kept its secrets
The final cut too near
We’re on our way to find the link

The first to go, the rest in pieces
The exit plan is clear
We’re on our way to see the host appear

One more cycle, then repeat it
Nothing happens here
Everybody, come on: link!

Round we go, but never see it
A light no longer clear
We’re on our way to see who is not here

We knew the spin was faulty by design
The fabric pills, the measure short
The early cut inclined

Another house, another garden
Weaker winter sun
A well-rehearsed expression from each one

A bigger house, day-labour burden
Supplicate for fun
We’re on our way to out of town

We knew the spin…

Our fortune was to see
The conversation
As a message flies
As you say goodbye
Voices untamed and free
Association
As they still amaze
In a turn of phrase

We like that you don’t care
What we’re thinking
OK, no love affair
Held you down
Bright now as when you were
Still around

Fill empty time with skill
Word murmuration
As the post takes hold
As the lines unfold
Life music, signs unfilled
No graduation
In a bedroom role
In a life untold

We like that you don’t care…

Dear Mary
Now a girl is washed away
Soft water
As the other children play
Much later
Where the youngest walks today

Dear Mary
Kiss the soldier, say goodbye
Thick water
Holds him closer, glorifies
New fathers
Other children, by and by

Come mercy, sing requiem
Light shines on them still
In quiet remember them

Dear Mary
Is your boy below the wave
By numbers
Counting higher, with the brave
Deep water
Living under, smiling grave

Ask me why
Now we said goodbye
And I still look round for you
Something more to tell you
Till you know it’s true

It’s sometimes
When I read your lines
And the main thing I recall
I would need you closer
You not there at all

It’s just, I miss you
All I can say
Wanted to tell you
Miss you from my day

Stop the time
When I feel inclined
To recall what we achieved
You and I together
More than we believed

Still appears
After all the years
As we held each other’s hands
Nothing more to tell you
And you understand

It’s just, I miss you…

First romances, second chances
What was there to lose
Her advances, hidden dances
Why the need to choose
Over-reaching, love is teaching
Helping to refuse

Close position, make decisions
Of who stays and goes
Face the mission, make transition
Withhold and dispose
Now engaging, stimulating
Marry and foreclose

Feed the hungry heart
Love in haste and live at leisure
Ending sours the start
Feeling’s work and thinking’s pleasure

One broken heart
As you decide
Unfaithful start
Now choose the side
Feel the charms of others’ arms

The hungry heart
Must make the call
One stays, one parts
Once and for all
Single track, and don’t look back

Live the phases, re-appraises
How the time has shown
Older faces, different places
Heart and mind are home
One was trying, one denying
Always on our own

First romances, time advances
Too adored to lose
Her advances, still the dance
Deletes the need to choose
Love was teaching, too far-reaching
Healing the refused

Beats the happy heart
Love in time, find hidden treasure
Never be apart
Thinking still, and feeling pleasure

No broken heart
The one denied
Right from the start
Now justified
Still on track, and looking back

The hasty heart
You made the call
Back to the start
Once and for all
Waive the charms of others’ arms

She’s never seen blue like his eyes
He sings her stories, she complies
She’ll never love again like this
To him her bond is true
He takes the chances, she dissolves
He is the one now, she resolves
Each one takes his place
Becomes the star to live up to

They were kings and they were masters
They were heroes in disaster
And their chariot will take your heart away
They were courage facing danger
To defeat and fear were strangers
And where reason goes the noble passions stay

President and firm behind the chair
World seems to be kinder in his stare
He flowers under pressure
Grows in stature in her view
His passion nourishes her flame
It’s only him now, she exclaims
He gathers younger flowers
Worships, celebrates the new

They were kings and they were masters…

They sing, they play the parts, they shine
And other men to them incline
Walk into the room and then
Control how others feel
Who’ll be the consort to the king
Who wants the peace below the wings
The easy heights afforded
To the animal appeal

His arms are open wide
And the angels at his side
Sing silent songs
I shot you through the window
As you smoked and looked ahead
Where you belong
The streets were lit in black and white
The wires made shapes to frame the nights
Until
Two girls, perhaps a boy and girl
A profile and a head of curls
Caught still
Your hands are open wide
A face that cannot hide
A mood distilled

The sign for topless go-go girls
Was hand-drawn but we liked
The homely style
The diner lights, the perfect square
Invited applications
Versatile
We stepped on to the balcony
You hid your face, I took the picture
Anyway
The next one was in colour
The cigarette, your forearm stretched
And cut away
Your hands are open wide
A face that cannot hide
What you don’t say

Water tumbles down
The falls that turn around
A perfect scene
Not typical for us
A postcard that adjusts
The red between
Back to spare interiors
Bare benches, cruets, tables
Atmosphere
Ohio spelt in Deco pillars
Moody monochrome now
Reappears
Your hands were open wide
A face that could not hide
Was never clear

We’re not in love, I want to make that clear
We’re more than friends though, and I want to say
We’re soul to soul, we’re heart to heart, sincere
What others think, we’ll let them think that way

Nothing has to happen, just because we agree
We were meant to be together, we are good company
We’re both in love with others, but I know that you care
And you know that I’ll be there

We’re not in love, I have to say again
Emotion’s not the force that keeps you near
We’re eye to eye, companions to the end
The glory taste brings half of heaven near

Nothing has to happen…

We’re face to face, we complement, we rhyme
It’s like I’m your confessor and you’re mine
A closeness that will never cross the line
We’re not in love, I say it one last time

Nothing has to happen…

She was his memory
He wrote her history
Friendship that won’t forget
Osiris and Isis met
Shine in firelight
Lines through vast bad nights

Take these words and hold the key
Understand and oversee
I sent my heart so you can stow away
What I no longer say

She was his home from home
Company when alone
Monsters and men collide
Pictures of her inside
Sing of homely grace
Bring familiar face

Take these words…

Light to the mind betrayed
Last hour of pain, he said
Now with his withered songs
Treasure to her belongs
Sleep, shadow slides
Peace, let joy abide

Take these words…

Early chapters made promises
New formations in dance routines
One was verse, others choruses
Now dumb

Someone falling down
Gently on the ground
Strangers sometimes stare
No-one really cares

Shake the sieve, under providence
Somehow learning, and confidence
One fell out, others made the fence
Now down

Someone falling down…

Make the choice, take a road ahead
Send the signals and lay the thread
One stood still, others move ahead
Now run

Someone falling down…

Turn the page, feel the time to go
Working out how the stories flow
One ignores, others seem to know
Now turn

Someone falling down…

Fill the shelves, book the final game
Rows that widen, and all contained
One for difference, the others same
Now done

Someone falling down…

Shh, now slowly
Wanting to see
How the whole thing ends
Huh, just stories
Never to see
How the whole thing ends

Here comes the constant lover
Here comes a better offer
They are the new forever
They are what God delivers
There’s no competing pressure
There’s no improving measure
She won’t admit she started
She won’t admit his heart in
Don’t say he didn’t warn her
Don’t say he didn’t harm her
Wait for the light to lighten
Wait for the mood to brighten
Sign for the rest of wonder
Sign for and then go under
Stand up and say their happy
Stand up and contradict me
Will they confess the failure
Will they taste bitter flavour
It’s just a baby crying
It’s just the why they’re sighing
Stop for the best of both worlds
Stop for the go go go girls
For them a quiet scandal
For them what they can handle
Bring them the speed of fire
Bring them the blunt desire
Face up to no affection
Face up to lost connection
There goes eternal measure
There go the easy pleasures
They got the sound convincing
They got the woman singing
Play what comes easy to you
Play what you really have to
Sit down till you recover
Sit down the time is over