Semaphore

I saw it turn from green to red The little light inside my head When I looked into your eyes And mistook your heart for your lies Deep inside, you see, I knew What you were saying was not true But deep inside, I find, I’d choose To believe you loved me too You let go and set yourself free And back it went from red to green And I found I couldn’t breathe And I found I couldn’t see And I found I did not feel Anything but what was real So nothing really changes at all When that light flickers on and off Then again from green to red Back and forth and back it went Until no longer I could stand The confusion and the sound The siren wail that signals fear And the gentle melody of love And the little light that controls When to stop and when to go I always crossed with green man walking Followed lights, patters, and colored symbols Subtle rules that yank the strings My invisible puppeteers So, this time instead, I took my breath and crossed the street with red man standing and was almost killed… almost… I grabbed your hand and pulled you to me Won’t you please open your eyes, I said And you stared long and hard at me And started laughing then: ‘Oh darling you sure are slow That’s just what I was waiting for,’ You smiled at me and squeezed my hand But I stared back, confused, “what?” ‘You cut the strings and took control Now, of your show you are the host And no longer the main lead; Yes now you know the difference.’ Did I say, “almost killed”? I did Oh, the grandest of the lies Perhaps that was the first time ever That I felt alive.