Rusty and Blue

How can I sweep these words into a cluster

Put 'em in a pile like feathers on your floor?

Voyages and sea forests deep blue and rusty

Sew 'em in a satchel 'n leave 'em at your door

People's lives, people's whose lives

They fascinate me

All my life, all my life

I've wanted to understand

There's a man on the corner he's got the moon in his eyes

He just comes here to visit and he wears a disguise

And I wonder if he's looking for friends or for truth

I think he's calling for some in that telephone booth

And the smiling woman answers

She defeats fear with her eyes

She thinks life's fine so I think she's wise

And my heart wants to give her a gift so grand

That it will speak for me and tell her just where I stand

And I stand on a pillar and it's melting like ice

Of years that I've lived and some I've lived twice

And I have all these feathers and leaves on my floor

That I don't want just blowing around loose anymore

And I feel a need to gather to rummage and fetch

To shake out my life and give it a stretch

To bring shells to the surface, give 'em to you

Gifts from the sea floor rusty and blue

Now these two lives hold my attention quite well

You see lives almost never run parallel

Like the boards in the flooring all deep grained and worn

Fated and fitted long before we were born

People's lives, people's whose lives

They fascinate me

All my life, all my life

I've wanted to understand

Understand