Leaving came to us just like a song,
a dull geometry of lawns,
the sense that you are still a stranger.
But we were born to fade away,
like light looking sideways into life.
There is no reason we should stay here.
And I know you are listening to this song,
late in a still room with your lover.
Now see that moon above the edge of speech,
as we flicker like a screen
and we are gone.
Once a spell of grace came over me
and I walked on through empty streets,
redbrick sweatshops, and madrassas.
Inside everything I heard a voice,
mechanical, beyond itself,
like the sentence of a dreamer.
And I know you are listening to this song,
late in a still room with your lover.
Now see that moon, above the edge of speech,
out here beyond your reach
I'm singing on