Clock hands break in my fingers
Endless ticking, endless tock

Pried out batteries
gears fall to the floor
freezing of memories
no more closing of doors

At the end of wit
is where I am
At the end of wit
is where I sit

You have a girl now
You've had her awhile
but it was a case of I don't ask
and I begged you not to tell

In the shadows of my room
you rest your head on my navel
It's playtime and I pretend
that this time you won't have to leave

I'm learning to bury things
I'm taking lessons from the neighbor's dog
I bought a shovel and a gardener's spade
I wait for my nails to grow

In the dark is the best time to dig
Under the canopy of Jersey pines
On my knees I sink to duty
Bleeding to discover bones and rock

Mom always said I'd end up in China
in my sideyard sand box
All I ever found was grass and endless
armies of tiny black ants

Raining is for dancing
Dancing is for the nude
2 am and the porch light dies
and I emerge as if born

I twirl
Wash away the dirt
Wash away the pain

A heart of gold
returned to the earth
a miner craving a cigarette
and a lover to kiss away the tears

I return to the ground
practicing Mandarin
blister on my hands
still refusing to wear any shoes

I can't listen to this song anymore
it makes me love you
tricks me into emotions
I'm not allowed to feel.

It's too slow and soft
too lilting but solid
evokes rain and a saved damsel
homesick and high

I know I can save myself
so beyond capable, I stand
but always, continually and always
I am throwing myself to the wolves
perhaps just to see how well I fight

If I could play the guitar
I'd set the world on fire

I am so much more than bare vocals
echoing on panelled walls

if I could play the guitar
I'd sing you to sleep

You'd settle down into softness
and embrace the still

if I could play the guitar

the dawning of days
this new refusal to apologize
for just who i am
and who i am not

i've packed away my costumes
all the masks are broken in two
it is so much easier
to just be me

i'm sorry i can't be
what you think you need
i'm sorry i can't be
the submissive chameleon

it takes so much energy
to just stay alive
so much energy
I refuse to not waste in lies

monkey

Again

I'm doing it wrong
Diving headfirst
down rabbit holes
where I once naively fell

And Again

I'm too old
to claim that I know
no better

An oops and a trip
but here I am
and there I go

again

I am blinding my own eyes
fingers plugging my ears
Running through the dark
Ducking under tree limbs
Dodging tripping stones
And I sing

lalalalallalalalalalallalalalalalla

I don't hear you
and I refuse to see
the insanity of repetition
the on purpose mistake
the wasting of precious time
and eventual tears