The War

You played guitar for hours
Till all the songs became the one
You screamed when you were born
And your fingers went numb
Stumps of wood at the end of your hand
You sang in a language no one could understand
Your lips were thick with quicksand
And now you're in a band.
There's a war that's passed this way before
You can read it on the paving stones
Black with tracks of tanks and wrath
White with powdered bones.
There's a war between the rich and poor,
The crazy and the sane
There's a war between you and me
And I miss you all the same.
The speakers were loud till the power blew out
And you jumped out into the crowd
Smacked those notes high as you could get
Screamed through your set and two cigarettes.
I said "you are beautiful"
You said "you are beautiful, too,
But I'm more beautiful than you."
I told her that I knew.
A phone call and a Belfast sky
Hanging over my head
Cutting up and measuring
The words I never said.
There's a war between the man and the woman
The complex and the plain.
There's a war between you and me
And I miss you all the same.