Shell      [from William Pilong]



F#/C#       F#/C# 
Turn a card, turn a page, 

           Bbm 
the action sure to start, 

C#            F#/C# 
second-stage reaction 

   Bbm                  F#/C#   B 
to illogical thoughts on random lines - 

    D#m             F#/C#   B 
in a Borges dream we move toward 

    F#/C#      F# 
the writing of lives. 



Leave it out, leave it in, 


no edits - 


with a shout, with a grin I said 


it was a certainty that I'd arrive 


in an Escher sketch 


we walk around 


the drawing of lines. 


    D          Bm 
The character uncertainty 

      Bm               D 
as he contemplates his lot 

    D                 Bm 
and tries to move with urgency 

           C#sus4        C# 
though he's rooted to the spot. 



On the brink, on the edge, 


but lately what I think, 


what I said escapes me 


in a flash, a tiger burning bright - 


does the visionary trance obscure 


the burgeoning night? 

F#  Bbm 
D#m  C# (improvise over the next verse) 


And she said "What are you doing?" 


And he said "What do you think?" 


Oh, no, 


what on earth are we doing? 


     D          Bm 
The characters procrastinate 

       Bm              D 
on the threshold of the door; 

        D                   Bm 
there's something here that fascinates, 

           D              Dsus4    D 
though the meaning's still un-     sure 

       Dsus4    G 
and the plot so thick. 

                        Em 
Is it some kind of history? 

           G                Em 
Sketch the thumbnail to the quick. 

                     D             D6  D 
Oh, even though it's full of contradiction, 

D           D6             G 
though it's flawed in the design 

             Bm 
this is no fiction, 

      C#sus4    C# 
it's a life-    line. 



Here we are, there we went, 


full circle, shooting stars, 


heaven-sent, turned turtle on the beach 


our shells are left behind 


life a library, like a memory 


of our ghost-written lives.