Page 1 of 1

Magic

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 5:53 pm
by good4somethingbum
Magic ©2017 Robert George BMI

Moonlight poured like mother’s milk upon the river’s mouth
And a honeysuckle wind was softly blowin’ south
Tommy rolled a tire to the muddy riverside
Pushed it in and sailed off in the dark, receding tide
Past the shoots and rushes to a shadowland unknown
Far from tears and pain of yet another foster home

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
Though it sounds like madness, somewhere in the sadness
Hides the secret of magic

Tommy saw a slow train on the trestle up ahead
And the cars were painted crazy green and blue and red
One car was a hay filled cage with elephants inside
Tom slipped through the bars and caught a faster, drier ride
As the train rolled into Georgia at the break of day
Vagabond the Clown found Tommy sleepin’ in the hay

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
Though it sounds like madness, somewhere in the sadness
Hides the secret of magic

Well, they stopped a mile outside of Macon,
And the clown fed Tommy eggs n bacon
While the carnies pounded stakes and set up colored tents
When the hungry boy relayed his lonesome story,
Vagabond could feel the hand of glory
And how life was bound together by coincidence

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
Though it sounds like madness, somewhere in the sadness
Hides the secret of magic

Vagabond was versed in all traditions of a clown
With two purple teardrops just above his painted frown
He performed his first coin trick when he was four
And once juggled knives for tips outside a liquor store
O his youth was littered with regrets and midnight sin
And his cards and coins suspected where his kiss had been

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
And the hardest lessons, are the soul and essence
And the secret of magic

Tommy loved the hoopers, mimes and hawkers,
Midgets, acrobats and tightrope walkers
So Vagabond received permission for the boy to stay
And he taught the child a sense of purpose,
That the curse and blessing of a circus
Was in how performers’ roots could wander day to day

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
Though it sounds like madness, somewhere in the sadness
Hides the secret of magic

He’d show Tom a few tricks while they shoveled out the cage
Pleased and proud that Tom learned quickly for a kid his age
He’d say sleight of hand just means distracting men
From the clear reality that’s right in front of them
As the clown revealed the seeds of ancient circus arts
He soon divined perception in young Tommy’s heart

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
Though it sounds like madness, somewhere in the sadness
Hides the secret of magic

Well, they found poor Vagabond one mournful day
Trampled by the elephants and dyin’ in the hay
All the freaks and outcasts gathered ‘round that lonely boy
And they told him life was Fate’s to conjure or destroy
They said don’t let sudden death distract your view
When your whole life yet remains in front of you

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
And the hardest lessons, are the soul and essence
And the secret of magic

Tommy begged the hoopers, mimes and hawkers,
Midgets, acrobats and tightrope walkers
For two favors that might ease his anger at the stars
Now his father’s resting by the river,
Learning real illusion from forever
And there are teardrops painted on the sides of circus cars

Life’s a twilight bridge between the brilliant and tragic
Though it sounds like madness, somewhere in the sadness
Hides the secret of magic