Still Life by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Still Life

Page 34

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Procol Harum

We skipped the light fandango

Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

I was feeling kinda seasick

But the crowd called out for more

The room was humming harder

As the ceiling flew away

When we called out for another drink

The waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later

As the miller told his tale

That her face, at first just ghostly

Turned a whiter shade of pale

She said, "There is no reason

And the truth is plain to see"

But I wandered through my playing cards

And would not let her be

One of sixteen vestal virgins

Who were leaving for the coast

And although my eyes were open

They might just as well have been closed

And so it was that later

As the miller told his tale

That her face, at first just ghostly

Turned a whiter shade of pale

She said; “I’m home on shore leave

Though in truth we were at sea”

So I took her by the looking glass

And forced her to agree,

Saying; “You must be the mermaid

Who took Neptune for a ride.”

But she smiled at me so sadly

That my anger straightaway died.

And so it was that later

As the miller told his tale

That her face, at first just ghostly

Turned a whiter shade of pale

If music be the food of love