The Overnight Trains

Distance is more than physical.

 that tattoo on your chest says you’re so stupid and brave

put a hand on your heart and a glass in your face

coming in black and blue, in the window she’s wearing green

the railway’s deserted when i phone from the platform

you’ll be shooting off to anywhere from Leith Central Station

but i go up to the city where i have to be careful

cause i feel more foreign than the people i know there

who came thousands of miles to the thousands of years here

and there are thousands of songs illustrating the distance

that run through my mind when i’m drunk, hypnotised

i lie to myself, i just don’t want to be walking home

alone down that tightrope, bohemia to junkie boredom

early Easter Sunday morning, when i resurrect the ghosts

that i keep in my pocket with the ring i would never keep on

Calvin whispers judgement deep inside my heathen mind

Henrysoun is stern but sympathetic, i ought to learn this time

so i trace the map on the wall into the quiet space behind my eyes

i might be sleeping somewhere more peaceful some night soon.

Author's Note

I wrote the first version of this more than a year ago and... it's still not quite right. So any improvements would be great.