Tell a truth, or tell a lie — Summary

That city turning pink in the sun’s slow descent; the night air still vibrant yet gentle now as if in its old age the day had finally found a way to be kind & calm without losing all passion for the fire of summer;

your hair, shed like feathers discovered in

my bed, a mess of tresses untangled & tangled again:

now all only a memory

of a scent & the slope of your shoulders at 5 a.m in the morning;

photographs of long lost days

when we still adored each other, before the decay became poison:

the silence, the speech, the years of peace

& warmth & war & lies & tired eyes & not fucking any more

& bored

so bored

of the performance; another dancing monkey out of sync with the organ grinder; a comedy without laughter, a tragedy without despair, only anger. All this & more now lives below a gravestone with no inscription, as our dream begins to decay beneath the surface,

where the remains may let new life flourish.

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A speaker looks back on a dead relationship, starting with a tender picture of a pink city at dusk and the day growing gentle in its old age. That softness doesn't last. Memories of a lover's hair on the pillow, her scent, her shoulders at dawn give way to the bitter list of what came after: silence, lies, tired eyes, no more sex, and boredom.

The speaker feels worn out more than heartbroken. He calls the relationship a performance, with himself as a "dancing monkey" out of step with the organ grinder, and describes a comedy with no laughter and a tragedy with no despair, "only anger." The mood is wistful at first, then weary and bitter.

The ending shifts again. The love is buried under a blank gravestone, and the speaker suggests that its decay might feed "new life." The poem closes on a faint, uncertain hope that something can grow from the ruins.

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