Cassiopeia
official lyrics from The Milk-Eyed Mender
Feel the mattress tense beneath me
like the muscle of non-sleepy;
feathers flexing will defeat me,
and it vexes me completely.
And the hexes heat covertly
like a slow low-flying turkey,
like a Texan drying jerky
but his meaty mitts can't hurt me.
With my steely will compounded
in a mighty mound that's hounded
by the snap your steel string sounded,
just before your snores unwound it.
And in store are dreams so daring
that the night can't stop from staring.
I'll swim sweetly as a herring
through the ether, not despairing.
Go to sleep, you stunning sky;
gently creep cunning by.
A quiet hum is amplified
by your thumb, that you suck dry.
Hundred raging waters
snare the lonely sigh.
Hold your breath
and clasp at Cassiopeia.
Notes
Cassiopeia is a prominent constellation in the northern sky, and the first of JN's many astronomy references to come.