Pendulum

A child building a sandcastle by the sea
People do not ask her why she builds a home
That will never have a master
They do not ask her why her house crumbles underfoot
And is swept away by the tide

Leave me be to build my sandcastles
Let me be a child and make pretend
One day I will build a house of stone that will not yield
When a thousand storms break against it
I will build a thousand hearths to keep my love safe and sound

And my love will put a swing in the back yard
And every day watch me swing back and forth and back and forth
Muddy nightgowns slip and slide in the breeze
Flesh, warm and icy, golden and pale in the moonlight
There is a child in me that will never die
And together, my love, we will sway

Passion, my dear, is love and hate
And I am a child of delirious joy and violent rage
I have never learned to like you, my love
I never will.

You and I are not the sort satisfied with synthetic affection
We will always be swinging
Between kisses and blows
Between screams and sighs
All the anger and fuss of lovemaking
In all of our thousand thousand fights

But even when I am old and grey
And the swing has almost stopped swinging
(We will find equilibrium at our deathbed, my love
Only in slumber will quiet give us peace)
You must never forget who I am

I am a child building sandcastles by the sea
Hoping to build a house
For the one who will build me a swing.