Blue Mermaid Dress

It's quarter to four
 My mind is awake
 Its finding the pathways that memories take
 I find you the way I remember you best
 On Burnt Island lake in your blue mermaid dress
 I remember you sitting there in the door
 It was August of nineteen ninety four
 The summer we swam in the green reservoir
 There was a song in the hollow of every guitar
 All our love yet unmade
 All our wine yet to drink
 All the fresh garden basil in your kitchen sink
 I remember you sitting crouched in the door
 There's no you to even sing this to anymore
 Where you are now
 I can't even guess
 But I remember you
 In your blue mermaid dress
 Your blue mermaid dress always got in our way
 Like your hair in our mouths in the heat of the day
 I remember you loved to jump from rock to rock
 I remember you on your cottage dock
 Where we rolled and made love and we laughed all day
 Our laughter ricocheted all around the bay
 Your blue mermaid dress all around your waist
 I wanted you for so long
 And you gave me a taste
 I built us a fire
 Remember that?
 Sam Cooke was singing That's Where Its At
 Aretha knew just how I made you feel
 And suddenly all of their music was real
 But songs all resolve
 They come back to the one
 While people just live with the damage they've done
 Every song that I've loved
 I count as my friend
 Not even the band knows how this one will end
 Cause where you are now
 I can't even guess
 But I remember you
 In your blue mermaid dress
 Its quarter to five
 And my friends are asleep
 These are the hours that memories keep
 I was always a nighthawk
 But I'm sleeping less
 Remembering you in your blue mermaid dress