Remainders

See them walking hand in hand across the bridge at midnight,
Only came outside to watch the night fall with the rain.
I never found out what made you leave
So soon.
Please, please tell me now.

Standing on the edge of a quay,
I’ve been in this grass here for the last ten hours.
Friends of mine. They said they were friends of mine.

Moving on the floor,
I saw you at the race yesterday.
Even on the darkest night,
Dark in the city, night is a wire.
Yes, we’re miles away from nowhere —
I’ve been now sauntering, out and down the path sometime.
I don’t remember quite how I met you, wasn’t long ago.
You saw me standing by the old corner of the main street
Out on the tar plains.

You’ve gone too far this time.
Shake up the picture,
I shed my skin.
Midnight, I think I’m gonna make it.
Why did you let me run?

Telegram force and ready,
Shackled and raised for a shining crowd.
Those words were all remainders.

* This piece of “found poetry” was assembled using the first lines of the songs from the first three Duran Duran albums. The lines are presented in the exact sequence that the songs appear in on the albums. “Remainders” was created thanks to a pair of generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Simon LeBon Fan Club.