It started with the seam,
before it moved to the collar,
and before I knew it,
my shirt was on fire.
Sometimes it takes a perspective
from the bottom of the mountain
to realize how tall you were
when you stood at the top.
I can almost feel the passport
in my hand,
clutched tightly.
Oh, this is humbling.
I’m not ready for it,
But my head is looking north,
and once I reach the top again
I’m never coming back down.
Light me up bartender.
They don’t seem to understand
the importance of a good story.
Turn the jazz up a bit, would ya?
I’m trying to find a balance here.
I’m conniving the best way to bring him down.
I don’t see the other side here.
Editorializing it is,
while I feign his intelligence.
Don sure would’ve been proud,
as I was of him.
But I’m not one to say it.
Pour me another bartender.
I’m waiting on tomorrow’s paper.
The intimacy of black and white
fills your home every night
at 6 o’clock,
and I’m the one you’re watching.
Everyone seems to be waiting
for the moment
in which I miss the step
and fall by the wayside.
But they don’t seem to understand
that I never fall,
I never crumble,
and I make the rules.
That was a cold walk home,
at least it didn’t last very long.
Time is just waiting
for me to give in.
Probably never speak of this.
Probably for the better.
The lack of emotion gets harder to read
with every letter.
I keep the light on to
brighten my eyes
to what’s clearly standing
right in front of me.
I want to remember the night stars
falling into our hands.
I’ll only remember the attitude of the angry sun
peeking out from behind the Earth.
I must flex.
Like a drug for my ears to replace,
the notes enter my blood vessels.
If you have nothing nice to say…
So I’ve got this melody, you see.
And I’ve been meaning to share it.
But you closed your hands as I went to give.
And now I’ve gone and spent it.
Years paint different pictures.
Gold only lasts so long.
Pick me up off the ground
to write a new song.
Dead as my patience.
Where did the car ride go?
Is that really all you wanted?
The box stays empty.
Never linked,
Always leading.
Your words were more fake
than a Cold War building.
Past tense motives,
to laugh back in years.
How I believed anything more
could be found in something much less.
More sure than the last one,
I aspire to be great.
Reminders of what needs to be done,
something you can’t take.
I’m the glow-in-the-dark watch
that you can read
only every now and then.
They say they’re unimpressionable,
But they’re already impressed.
So, why the effort?
A piece of pizza and a smile
would have done wonders.
But she hid there, eyes open.
Timing was never my thing,
and she’ll never open her eyes again.
She knew too much.
I’ll remember where the last ornament was placed.
What sweater you wore at the table.
The smile you chose that day.
Where you stood in that picture.
When you first grabbed my hand.
The look in your eyes when you first saw light.
And sometimes it’s nice to think
that some birds fly north for the winter,
and that one day you’ll find your way home,
but you won’t.
And for now I have to tiptoe the lane,
veer into oncoming traffic,
just to wait until the sun goes down,
and that sun may never set.
The red sneaks through.
I am troubled.
Can’t believe what you have done.
I read.
The world needs to hear,
but no one is listening here.
There are people listening,
on the other side.
You’re almost there.
A few more steps.
You’ve been on this path before.
Begins to look familiar.
I lost it.
But it’s not mine to lose.
Remember the end of July.
I lost it.
Find my imperfections.
Add up all my wrongs.
Put together every miserable moment.
It’s long,
the time it takes to heal.
I was a battleship,
and I won the war.
Pick yourself up.
You’re mighty,
you’re strong.
Realize all the bad there was,
to make you forget the good.
Down the road you’ll see.