[New-Poetry] Dylan on the page

[LauraHeidy at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/3/2006 1:50:18 PM Central Daylight Time,  
grahamd at ripon.edu writes:

I tend to  agree with Dave. I remember thinking, back in the 60s and 70s, 
that Dylan's  surrealistic stuff would be awfully embarrassing to read 25 years 
hence, and  now I'm finding out that I was wrong. It does hold up.  



I dunno.  I loved it then, I still love it now.
 
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
(Bob Dylan - 1974)
 
The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall,
The  cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall.
The curfew had been  lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down,
Anyone with any sense had already  left town.
He was standin' in the doorway lookin' like the Jack of  Hearts.

He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone," he  said,
Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned  their 
heads.
Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a  grin,
"Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?"
Then  he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts.

Backstage  the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs,
Lily had two queens, she  was hopin' for a third to match her pair.
Outside the streets were fillin'  up, the window was open wide,
A gentle breeze was blowin', you could feel it  from inside.
Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of  Hearts.

Big Jim was no one's fool, he owned the town's only diamond  mine,
He made his usual entrance lookin' so dandy and so fine.
With his  bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place,
He took whatever he  wanted to and he laid it all to waste.
But his bodyguards and silver cane  were no match for the Jack of Hearts.

Rosemary combed her hair and took a  carriage into town,
She slipped in through the side door lookin' like a queen  without a crown.
She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his  ear,
"Sorry, darlin', that I'm late," but he didn't seem to hear.
He was  starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts.

"I know I've seen that  face before," Big Jim was thinkin' to himself,
"Maybe down in Mexico or a  picture up on somebody's shelf."
But then the crowd began to stamp their feet  and the house lights did dim
And in the darkness of the room there was only  Jim and him,
Starin' at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of  Hearts.

Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a  child,
She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time  she 
smiled.
She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange  affairs
With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere.
But  she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts.

The hangin' judge  came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined,
The drillin' in the wall  kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind.
It was known all around that  Lily had Jim's ring
And nothing would ever come between Lily and the  king.
No, nothin' ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts.

Rosemary  started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife,
She was tired  of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife.
She had done a  lot of bad things, even once tried suicide,
Was lookin' to do just one good  deed before she died.
She was gazin' to the future, riding on the Jack of  Hearts.

Lily washed her face, took her dress off and buried it  away.
"Has your luck run out?" she laughed at him, "Well, I guess you  must
have known it would someday.
Be careful not to touch the wall,  there's a brand-new coat of paint,
I'm glad to see you're still alive, you're  lookin' like a saint."
Down the hallway footsteps were comin' for the Jack of  Hearts.

The backstage manager was pacing all around by his  chair.
"There's something funny going on," he said, "I can just feel it in  the air."
He went to get the hangin' judge, but the hangin' judge was  drunk,
As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk.
There was  no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts.

Lily's arms were locked  around the man that she dearly loved to touch,
She forgot all about the man  she couldn't stand who hounded her so much.
"I've missed you so," she said to  him, and he felt she was sincere,
But just beyond the door he felt jealousy  and fear.
Just another night in the life of the Jack of Hearts.

No one  knew the circumstance but they say that it happened pretty quick,
The door to  the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked.
And Big Jim was  standin' there, ya couldn't say surprised,
Rosemary right beside him, steady  in her eyes.
She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of  Hearts.

Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall
And  cleaned out the bank safe, it's said that they got off with quite a haul.
In  the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground
For one more member  who had business back in town.
But they couldn't go no further without the  Jack of Hearts.

The next day was hangin' day, the sky was overcast and  black,
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back.
And  Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink,
The hangin' judge was sober,  he hadn't had a drink.
The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of  Hearts.

The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, "Closed for  repair,"
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair.
She was  thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw,
Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary  and thinkin' about the law.
But, most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack  of Hearts.


Lo
_Terminal  Chaosity_ (http://lauraheidy.blogspot.com/) 
http://lauraheidy.blogspot.com/ 
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