The gentle tide was lapping at the stone steps
While I waited in the piazza for an appointment with a dream
With a promise of a continental kiss with a sad nostalgic taste
A cloak and dagger countess with an hour or two to waste
Of sweeping capes and black top hats
And silver topped canes
Of balmy nights with too much perfume
And full moons on the wane
Masks are worn in candlelight
To hide a sweet despair
The sea comes up at midnight
Through the holes all around the square
The gentle tide was lapping round my ankles with the seagulls overhead
Screaming incantations while waiting to be fed
I was listening to thunder in the distance with no exit out of town
You can lose your way before you drown
I thought again of Dorian Gray
And ways to hide decay
Of gold and jewels and famous names
But the season is on the wane
True the orchestra was there
With rivals across the square
But one was playing Wagner
While the other swayed to Jazz
The gentle tide was lapping 'round the buildings and rising all the while
The sea breaks off its marriage with this monument of style
So what's the drill for sinking ships and sailors on the run
Through the maze of waterways, in search of solid ground?
Before we drown
