The Ballad of Resurrection Mary, a Cemetery Story

See me

in my white party dress

while passing by Resurrection Cemetery

walking up Archer Avenue, jumping

on the running board of your automobile

and vanish.

See me,

with my blond hair and blue eyes,

with my thin shawl and small purse

and on this tiny dancing shoes -

just a piece of art

from your local graveyard

and a joy

forever.

Meet me at the O Henry Ballroom, now

known as the Willowbrook,

and dance with me

as the young men did

who all grew old

and died

and are still waiting for me

at the Resurrection Cemetery.

Offer me a ride home

and I will give you vague directions

heading north of Archer Avenue

where you will see me

vanish behind the gates

of Resurrection Cemetery.

I will bolt in front of your car

and there will be a sickening thud

and when you stop to help me,

I will be gone -

or you can drive directly through me

when I make my turn and disappear

in the Resurrection Cemetery.

They'll make you believe

I'm dead, but hey:

you did see me -

did you?

They'll say to you I was killed

while hitchhiking up Archer Avenue,

way back in the thirties and

after having spent the evening

dancing with a boyfriend

at O Henry Ballroom.

It was a cold winter's night

and we had a fight

and I stormed out of the place

and was run down

while walking up Archer Avenue.

The driver left me there to die

but here I am

in the white dress and dancing shoes

I was wearing when my parents buried me

at Resurrection Cemetery,

so come and save

this last dance for me.

They say I am no more

than a ghost, just passing by -

but did you see me

grasping the iron bars

of the Resurrection Cemetery?

Did you see me pulling them apart

and blackening them with the scorch marks

of my infuriated fingerprints,

sealed in the green bronze?

They'll make you believe

that I am no more

than a piece of art

from your local graveyard.

But hey, did you

see me

vanish?