The China Path

I'm trying to write while I'm on the bus,
so excuse me if it's a little crooked
I'm almost home now - we're in Gerrards Cross
The Christmas lights are already lit
I've been planning to leave since we last met
I'm glad I finally did
I'll stay just one night at Tissy's
I'll try to figure out the colour of her eyes one last time
then I'll take the china path to Mount Sinai

It was May when you first met her
You were wearing something maroon
She'd been ill, but said she felt better
"Must be the month or the moon."
Her grip on my wrist got weaker
She was completely cured by June
Look now, the streets seem familiar
I will think of you and your amazing hands every night
when I walk the china path to Mount Sinai

And I wouldn't be surprised, old friend,
if you came to the temple one day
Your scarf like smoke on the wind,
dressed in maroon, or grey,
and asked me all about Tissy
and claimed you never knew her that way
Oh, Ishmael, dear brother
I was never fooled, never taken in, not for a second
That's why I take the china path - I want to forget