We Burst into Flames

Like a ghost among the mortal
He walks through swinging doors and he fires.
It only takes a couple rounds to lay his rival down
On the deadwood steps of friendly’s alley bar.

Only thoughts can haunt you. Not the ghosties.
Banging at the bedpost. All a blur.
Oh how Rosetta cried! She will not be his bride, oh no.

We burst into flames like it’s happened before
In the hum-drum drowning drone of another lifetime.
How did you know to let the frame go burning down
To the brown/black budding blooms of ash and I-beams.

Like a plank bends beneath a burden
Rosetta lays the flowers at the stone.
She flicks a cigarette through the window where it catches
On the curtains of the ghost man’s only home.

I swear I sat and watched it smolder,
Counting down each dying ember.
Afraid to offer him the water
With sunrise coming on It’s clear to see the roof is gone but
Ghosts breathe smoke so he ain’t gunna choke, oh no.

We burst into flames like it’s happened before
In the pine-box time-drunk drone of another era.
How did you know to let the frame go burning down
To the flailing, aimless sounds of poor Rosetta.

We burst into flames like it’s happened before
but hell if I will let it happen again.
How did you know there was a hole below the floorboards
but no heaven to report to when you’re dead.