Wayback Weekend #5

My high school’s production of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” was a bittersweet allegory for all the folderol going on with me at the time (not to mention that our theater department opted for an interpretation that was a veritable pastiche of Bowie’s Jareth, Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, Robert Smith, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the Book of Genesis). At the time I imagined myself a stronger, less-susceptible foil to Laura – the one who’d pull her back from the brink – but really we’ve all been Laura, and Lizzie, for that matter, at one time or another.

Song for Laura 

There's a girl I know very well
She tripped on a lie
And a raspberry spell
She's seen the light stream like diamond fire
And she's borne the thirst of dry desire

And I know how it feels
When things don't go as you plan
And I know how it feels
To hold that fruit in your hand

She's out of favor
And out of the sun
With the memory of nectar inscribed on her tongue
She'd love to reclaim a measure of grace
But she just can't get past the sweet aftertaste

And I know how it feels
When things don't go as you plan
And I know how it feels
To hold the world in your hand

Return her to wisdom
Return her to grace
Return her to strength
Return her to faith

Cos I know how it feels
When things don't go as you plan
And I know how it feels
When heaven slips from your hands