Goodbye, Josephine

From the gods
The Few watch on in disbelief
Gus defies illusion from the drapes above the troupe
And scolds the vanguard, clipping all the stars above
Iliana stands on broken glass, staring at her feet
The bloody choir bleeds onto the sad psalms
The ink runs down the sink

On the roof
Berta spoke about a girl
Who sailed alone and calmed the blue
It can't be true
The Shadows said they saw the wreck
So why fight?
But they do!

Don't let go
Miracles proceed the dance
The proscenium arch it grows onto the street
From the loge
Gus takes the hand of our Coco
And leads her up a stairwell
Towards the library bookshelves
Sits her down and aims his gun between her eyes
And just before he sends her to the skies,
Co cries
"Please, will you sing me a lullaby?
A lullaby
A lullaby
A lullaby
Sing me a lullaby
Put it in the sky
Carve it in my side
A lullaby"

Rise!
The Few take back the night
They fight The Shadows to the summit heights
Ah, lullabies
What makes all the brokenhearted stand?
She's on the final page

In a room 'neath the fray
She turns her face
Josephine
Armando finally holds her
Her molten eyes they cease
He runs his fingers down her cheek
And cuts his palm upon the bevelled edges of her cheval glass
Backstrips break, The Shadows burst out of the seams
He seizes pages, ink it flails above the fallen mezzanine
"To die or to pretend?" He writes
Gus kicks him to his knees
Maybe we're all just sinners here for who is sane without the dance?
The Shadows part with Pina through the casements to the street
He rests his head against the barrel and from the hall a music box turns so slow
Then a lullaby
A lullaby
Soft lullaby
A lullaby

My lover
Let's start all over again
My lover
It's such a shame it all had to end
Goodbye, Josephine