Great Ghosts

I had my hopes of how I would be
 After living in exile
 After closing your eyes to me
 I even wrote scenes where I reemerged boldly
 Bearded, alive, with "eskimo eyes"
 New baby on my back, but from where?
 But I didn't count the fact that I have ghosts in my mind
 Stowaways, great ghosts of my life
 Great ghosts of old wives
 And they're howling
 So I spent my wilderness time rolling on the ground
 Pulling my hair and wrestling them off
 Yelling at no one, punching snow
 I gathered ghosts and gave them my lecture
 I bid them away, I pleaded and cried
 I said, "There's no room in my life for you or you
 Or your howling
 Let me undo these ropes and go on living without you
 Not just change where we live"
 "Go on, get!" I said
 I had my hopes about how I would be after sending them off
 After getting set free
 But there's no such thing as living
 Without their prowling
 As you can see, having descended the hill
 I still look like me, I still wallow like Phil
 And forever will
 I'm teeming with ghosts
 And I'm still whining for wives
 Knitting my brow
 But now I've surrendered
 In fact, I have joined in
 Hear us howling!