packing all expressions away
folding the tiny fastener down
another day will see this manila
envelope opened again,
where will you be, my friend? oh
Balcony at a piece of performance art, or the back booth of a culver’s,
or a marriott courtyard in some suburb of some metropolitan area you've never been
when will you be opening it again?
cannonballing off of the pier
with your new bleach blonde hair
i remember you well, but not why we were there
twenty-07, twelve years ago,
an impressionist old canvas of impressionable ego
and although i suppose i could take it as proof it's all makeshift,
the way the sun looks from inside of an eyelid,
right now it makes me angry which we've learned
is merely sadness pushing outward, ever outward till it bursts
Oh, we know you can't be perfect
could you at least try to be good
so you can say "this came out better than I thought it would"
ideally, by the time you settle down,
you'll bring a lightness to your town and all those around
Remember: every mayor, beloved NBA player, every saint's
been caught in the perennial cliche you’re living now
Siphon off a bit of the poise you seek
Shaking your head glibly when they try to read your face and they guess you’re a pisces
As if you’ve ever thought of it for longer than a minute
As if you want to be here or give a shit
Assume they’re giving one back, at this point a leap,
“I’m taurus” you crack, and they ask if you have weed
And for the first time in at least a decade, you do truly wish you could say,
“Yes I do and it’s really good, let us go obfuscate
This kitchenette we’re in,
because i’m tired of my two friends,
I’m tired of congenial misery”
But lying don’t come easy anymore, a hundred shoes outside the door but you can’t find yours,
And Life is full of subtle changes, this ain’t one, to some you’re lame; but you’re comfortable
Maybe by the time you leave your town
And get a thousand miles down you’ll turn around
Because you miss the stale emotion and the sounds of train stops passing
and all that you can’t stand to even think about right now
