Cleopatra

CLEOPATRA

She told me that her name was Cleopatra when we met
And I didn’t mind at all though she was lying I suspect
I told her I’m the emperor of all that I survey
“You can call me Alexander” -- well, she said that that was great
Going round, this old mobile, going round
It’s just as easy talking up as talking down

She told me ‘bout a boyfriend who’d proposed in middle school
And stories of her family I could tell she wished were true
It was Christmas in the Catskills and Easter on the cape
And Mama married money, and Daddy by mistake
Going round, this old mobile, going round
It’s just as easy talking up as talking down

And I told her ‘bout the time I got arrested in the park
For kissing after curfew and then for talking smart
And as they drove me to the station house, in cuffs and in conceit
I found a quarter bag of weed that’d been stuffed down in the seat
Going round, this old mobile, going round
It’s just as easy talking up as talking down

I told her ‘bout the incident with fireworks and doves
And she told me about Somoa and lilikoi and love
And we compared our notes on marketplaces, Brownsville and Bombay
And how the story of your life is always yours to trade away
Going round, this old mobile, going round
It’s just as easy talking up as talking down

But when things got quiet, she got far
And I caught a tiny glimpse of Cleopatra’s heart
Curled up in candlelight at home
And her fingers smelled like cigarettes and another night alone

There comes a time in every barroom night when the light starts getting strange
And the shadows and the highlights start to cross and start to change
In the hollow of her cheekbones hid both fantasy and flight
As she kissed me on the lips and disappeared into the night
Going round, this old mobile, going round
It’s just as easy talking up as talking down