Lyrics

MARTHA?S VEIL
© 2000 J. Oscar Bittinger

Three green bottles on the desk
Amid coins and notebooks
A pile of clothes from a drunken burlesque
A chessboard that?s missing a rook
But here on the TV
A girl with three golden hoops in her ear
I see her through a gauze of dots
But she can?t see in here
Like a snapshot or fun house mirror
Can blur detail
I can?t really see the face
Behind Martha?s Veil

Last summer at a wedding on a hill
We saw meteor showers
Fireflies sparkled in the fields
Like radio towers
Though you can pack a lot of action
On a color TV screen
You can?t feel someone?s arms around you
Or the crush and the careen
When the bride throws her bouquet
From the balcony rail
I can?t lift the lace
Of Martha?s Veil

I wish we were able
To reach through the cable
To communicate
But I know that you are only here
On tape

Trying to feed your wild mind
You keep changing the channel
Stare at the blue fire don?t look behind
To see the living room shadows
Under great moving skies
Stormy then sedate
Mountains sun and the rivers run
The box can?t hold the size or shape
Art may imitate
What?s on the screen?s for sale
It?s a tease that?s just a taste
Behind Martha?s Veil