40 million records later the transition was easy
To walk away was always on the cards as an option
And he took it burying that which held him captive
Far away
But the echoes of those first songs were heard
In 964 homes across the town
It was them that couldn’t leave his voice
But they took to the sand and Malibu was cold, surprisingly
He saw the seagulls – both of them but in the flying past the moment was lost
He didn’t expect to find anything more in the flotsam
But there was this key and ticket and a journey he thought he’d already done
Cryptic calls at 13 in the morning, must have been really 9 but didn’t feel right
It’s a magic hour if you can find it
He found that Jo could give him his heart back
And it was inside and outside and embraced
He put on Jo’s hat and when it fitted
He was able to move through the crowd more easily
And a golden dome arrived on his back door step
While he slept he noticed it but was afraid to carry ore in his dreams
It’s been heavy on most backs bending them
But it’s easy not to carry if you’re too afraid to live
Speaking out loud today can’t take away the cries of
The times when he needed to deny and did deny and hadn’t even said
And separation occurred but it had already happened
It’s just that he hadn’t noticed in his new clothes
So he took up the hat once more
And wandered easily amongst the crowds
But Brutality came home from the Baltics and someone needed to take responsibility
For the children that had gone from any future hat wearing
Wine noticeably slipped down and when not inside
It stained the toes from the slip ‘twixt mind and hand
Tried to ignore and defend but inspired by bravery
And clouds and some hardwood boards in Sarajevo
Footsteps, over time, became easier to hear
Even those footsteps of the children of no hats
Much later, he noticed how all the hats in his wardrobe
Had names of nohat children embroidered around the brim
In gold thread – ore 1 emptiness 0
And then he also noticed that the sea had more shades of blue
And the sky more shades of ochre
And the sand more tints of green.
Text: © J. L. Nash 2010
Images: © Rodney Smith
