King of Kankakee

You were the king of Kankakee
Maybe the prince of all
You came so close to kissing me
You woke me up from my long sleep
Into an even longer fall

I lived aboard a sailing ship
The kindest mate I had yet met
Oh, but I was weary
Of scrubbing all those decks
Until they shone like a mirror
His image to reflect

So I jumped ship in the Saltan sea
I took up with a pirate girl
Hanging round her galley
Playing with our treasures
Diving in her shallows
For her perfect pearl

You were the king of Kankakee
You play the horses just like me
Pick a longshot for a winner
Slap your dollar on the counter
Throw your heart onto the track
To be all trampled into splinters

You bet your castle in the country
I wagered my house in town
My pirate girl did referee
She sees so clearly into me
Herself so caught between the sea
And settling down

Now I’m a thief outside your gate
Paralyzed any opening to take
For if I should find the crown
Would your whole castle tumble down
Would there be blood on my hands
Would there be murder in my name?

Your kingdom for a fire horse
The fire caught and leapt it’s course
What you gonna do now?

You were the king of Kankakee
You with your blessings and your brilliant queen
I am not looking to be subject
To a sovereign or a bet
I only want us to be free as we can learn to be

What of that mate I set adrift
He is the finest friend there is
I’ll love him to the end of me
I don’t know why he cannot feed
The part of me that’s starving
Needs the king of Kankakee

Are you the king of Kankakee?
I am not kind I am not sweet
I am bitter to the core
I am full of love and war
I am hungry as an army on it’s knees

Your kingdom for a fire horse
The fire caught and leapt it’s course
What you gonna do now?

Fall 2001
Kansas / New Orleans