Stand by Me

David St. John

When the solace of angels is named,

When the winds blister the academy,

When the first lesions of winter light

Scrawl their paths across the black sheet

Of the bed beneath the skylight,

When the algebras of my past repeat

Themselves drunkenly on into the night,

When the lemon peels twist

At the edge of the porcelain saucer,

When the door is closed behind me,

When the stilettos all stand at attention

The moment I step onto the subway,

When my future's looking dim,

Stand by me

no matter

The declensions of light along the shore,

No matter the new color of my hair,

No matter the tattoo I've solicited

In a bar fight over nothing,

No matter the earrings on the dresser top,

No matter the motion of my body against yours

Breaking its own rainbow,

No matter what,

stand by me;

If some innocent misanthropy unties me

From my new suede shoes,

If the many travellers within me all

Depart together, or if the one who's most

Rude & surly returns to you alone,

If every word I've lifted with such effort

Hangs in its residue of ash,

If there's still some consequence in this,

Stand by me;

after the music

Rasps its way out of my chambered bones,

After the shuffle I'm famous for is reduced

To nothing but the white tracings

Of shoes on a sidewalk,

Numbered 1, 2, & 3 ...

After the legato which will leave me alone,

After the third day of prolonged applause,

After the newscasters impress upon me

The transitory nature of all earthly fame,

After my make-up begins to run like

Stigmata in the shadow of the klieg lights,

After the night before the night

You decide it really isn't

Worth it anymore,

stand by me;

Because the antiphony of my conscience

Has become quite enough,

Because you remember me believing

Whatever it was that I believed,

Because it's getting late no matter which

Country, heart or clock we consult,

Because the outfield is moving in,

Because even the women on the Pirelli

Calendar are looking grim,

Because everyone has to forgive someone,

Because I miss you & it matters,

Because no one else wears the morning

Quite so well, stand by me, please;

Stand by me.