Rockaway

We packed up a car
I don’t know whose it was
With blankets and beers
We stopped for gas and chocolate bars
We got lost, we got found
And out sorrows we drowned
In Rockaway
In Rockaway
The radio broke
So we sang songs instead
A girl I didn’t know
With a copper bracelet — put her hand in my hand
Oh but hands lead and lead away
If only nightbirds could stay
In Rockaway
In Rockaway
We sat on the shore
And stripped down to our kin
And ran to the sea
The water was cold but she went in so I did
In that space between dusk and dawn
You don’t always know which side of a dream you’re on
In Rockaway
In Rockaway
The tide starts creeping in
Taking what it will
Wood and rocks and bones
Returned to the world below
After breakfast we slept
Until late afternoon
All over the house
And in the front lawn — all of the neighbors were gone
And somewhere in my sleep
I knew there was nothing I could keep
In Rockaway
In Rockaway
Some friends I have known
For as long s we’ve grown
Like blackberry vines
Taking over the earth from the side of the road
Tangled up in fruits and thorns
Where rabbits ran and deer lock horns
In Rockaway
In Rockaway