PURPLE BUTTERFLY

PURPLE BUTTERFLY

Too few memories held close
I sit here in this room
your face it pales
dear
the time is coming soon

Angry cries betray me
racking sobs
I embrace the floor
my love could not save you
I can do no more

Softly I hear you whisper
I scramble to your bed
on my shoulder, darling
rest your fragile head

your words
bind me
I shall never be free
your words
embrace me
I wait anxiously

You said
when the morn has broken
seek Jack-In-The-Box gully
down our favourite track
by the old mahogany tree
sit beside the Kush- Kush grass
wait for me
do not be downcast
search the sky
by the mahogany tree
I shall return a purple butterfly

Then
your spirit left me
I walked out the door
spent the night in the gully
with our puppy Theodore
I sat there waiting
as the sun filled the sky
waiting
waiting
for a purple butterfly

Evening came
still nothing
that's where they found me
carried me home screaming
you promised me!

so come back to me my love
so we can fly
come back to me my love
as a purple butterfly

They said
the funeral was lovely
I can't remember much
more and more these days
I feel I'm losing touch

Everyday I go walking
by the old mahogany tree
you have to keep your promise
you have to
come back to me!

Sometimes
I don't come home
sometimes
I don't sleep
food passes my lips
no more
I no longer eat

I gaze at the mahogany tree
so unhappily
waiting
waiting
for you
to come back to me

So come back to me my love
so we can fly
come back to me my love
as a purple butterfly

Doc Phillips came to find me
they had brought him there
they say I'm sick
but I can hardly hear
cause am focusing on the mahogany tree
as the sun fills the sky
desperately seeking
a purple butterfly

They say I have to go now
but I'm not leaving here
you promised!
I know you'll come!
I know you will be here!

Suddenly the voices tell me
"you must
escape or die
they'll take you to jenkins
you'll never see
your purple butterfly"

Though my body is to weary
I know I must try
try to find you
my purple butterfly

So I ran to the mahogany tree
feet tangle in my skirt
with primal cry
I fall into the dirt

Crying and clawing
I can't say goodbye
carried me home
screaming
you promised!
you promised!
a purple butterfly

Many years I've been here
rocking endlessly
muttering
purple butterfly, purple butterfly, purple butterfly
willing you to find me

I know you're by the mahogany tree
know what I have to do
if I'm to be with you

So when
Sister Brown comes with the medicine
I grab her by her throat
as my hand squeezes her windpipe
I hear her choke
wearing her uniform
I walked out the door

They can hold me no more

I hear you calling
"come to me"
faster and faster I run
to the mahogany tree

But there's no tree!
I search frantically


Everything looks different
and I don't know why
oh my god where are you
my purple butterfly

Then again you whisper
"come to me"
and there you are
right in front my eyes
after all these years a purple butterfly!

I follow you to the clearing
then you landed there
I see something glitter
I know why I'm here
know what I must do
to be with you my dear

I hold the knife lovingly
I caress the blade
you hover above me
and whispered
"do it and be saved
and we will be together
we will touch the sky
you and I
as two purple butterflies"

In and instant it is over
without a cry
they are people screaming
standing over my body
I see them from the sky
as I float there with you my love
two purple butterflies