Corina, Corina

I saw a 50/50 Bar today and thought of you,
Corina, Corina
Like the movie when she blows the stoplights green.
I pick you up in alley
With your straggly hair and unkempt way.
I honk twice and you appear
Stumbling from the trailer where you sleep...or toss and turn
Covering your ears from the voices,
Hiding your eyes from the spiders that crawl on your small frame.
We park by the ice cream truck
And I remember Iowa in the summer.
I remember Ann Murray spinning on the record player
And a twelve-year-old me prompting her with the words.
I blink and I am back.
Back to this filthy, black California street corner with you,
Corina, Corina.
You walk towards me with two 50/50 bars
And we lean against the Chevy
And wait for the man with the face.
The face I see at night in my sleep
As I lie there tossing and turning,
Covering my ears from the voices,
Hiding my eyes from the spiders that crawl on my small frame.
He brings us what we crave
And I give you your share
And suddenly, I know that I don't need you anymore.
Or is it this that I don't need anymore...
Or is that the problem...
Do I need you,
Need this,
Need the man with the face
More than I want to imagine.
I hear the ice cream truck
And I remember Iowa in the summer.
I remember her nails digging into my suntanned skin
As our mouths opened and we laughed with no sound
At the lady with the Cocker Spaniel hair.
My legs ache
And I blink and see you,
Corina, Corina.
I drive you back to the alley
But you can't even wait.
It is out and open in my car
And you are someone that I don't know.
I look at you.
I mean,
I really look at you.
Not through you,
But into you.
And I'm scared at what I see.
I see me.