I’ve made a vow
That I should have made long ago
Arms-length
Arms-length
Arms-length

I’ve made a vow
I shot the early adopter
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Arms-length
Arms-length

I’ve made a vow
Give ’em what they want and quickly
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Arms-length
Arms-length

I’ve made a vow
Hardly know their name or their face
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Arms-length
Arms-length

I’ve made a vow
Though it will kill me to keep it
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Arms-length
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I’ve made a vow
They thrive on not being noticed
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Arms-length
Arms-length

It’s all sacred
Tell the reacher
It’s all sacred
Tell the thinker
It’s all sacred
Tell the worker bee
It’s all sacred
But don’t spit on me

It’s all sacred
Tell the mender
It’s all sacred
Tell the server
It’s all sacred
Tell the kitchen team
But don’t spit on me

Don’t you dare
Spit on me

Introducing
What you’ve wanted all along
No bow
No paper
Just endless happiness

Introducing
Just a little bit of this
A bite
Just enough
Just endless emptiness

Introducing
A lil curtsy and a dip
No warmth
Anymore
Just endless endlessness

I won’t giggle
At your pictures
Cause you won’t giggle
At my change
A whole week
Tied to an anchor
Down down and quite alone
With your notebook full
With your notebook full

I won’t scuttle
‘Round you ever
Cause you won’t scuttle
Never have
Consistent
Hopeless and tethered
Hopeless and haughty
With your notebook full
With your notebook full

I thought mercy
Was your motor
But you’ve no mercy
For less thans
For has beens
You just stay silent
Silent with a list
With your notebook full
With your notebook full

All have bad days
Isn’t that right
So you’ve had bad days
That linger
And drown you
You didn’t mean it
Just had to say it
With your notebook full
With your notebook full

Your hubris
Is as wicked
As a devil’s snare
A concrete weapon wall
Of pismire flare
And it wasn’t
The greasy pole basilica
Or the flawed
And meager
God of the harvest
But a harmattan
Of girlish adaptations
So, lap along little lassies
Lap along
Yes, lap along little lassies
Lap along

There’s a deep pain
That she can’t access
She won’t. Never.
Because she can’t fathom
Any benefit whatsoever

So long live the factotum
Long live the toiler
There’s only a hunch life
Only a hunch life for me now
Which can only be mouthed silently

See, I know I’m not work-shy
You can’t be where I am
You can’t do what I do
Without a knuckle in your ribs
Without a kite and a wind

She can’t equal that grit
Can’t even mount that red flag
And absolutely won’t fawn over
Or beseech the dusty road
To yield an a-ha

So she and all the other fussbudgets
Can squander breathlessly to the grave
And to her far off kin I’ll be fair
She never knew my need for words and rescue
And I never knew her need to peg away and peg away and peg away

I stepped on a piece of glass
Got most of it out
But a bullish and determined shard
Found a way to tunnel
And burrow like a kingfisher
It’s baloney to know you won’t win
Like scraping teeth to realize
That inflammation and infection
Are next in line for a long time

And you wonder why
Friends slip by
Though you know your smug ways
You deny it just the same
Call me victim says the villain
Call me victim says the villain
And you cry cry cry
Cry cry cry

And they can forgive and have
Got most of it out
But you’ve become known for who you are
Don’t look the same no more
I warned you about the cartoon
And I warned you about every lie
Like biting nails you’ve realized
That inflammation and infection
Are next in line for a long time

And you wonder why
Friends slip by
Though you know your smug ways
You deny it just the same
Call me victim says the villain
Call me victim says the villain
And you cry cry cry
Cry cry cry

Yeah, I’ll take that note
But that note’s a badger
You can rewind
And say it twice
But meaning it’s another matter

Let let die
And die to this

You penguin waddle
Through your stubborn wall
With too much garlic
And too much sauce
As if you’ve never savored at all

Let let die
And die to this

And the huffiness
Makes ’em fear you like a skunk
Always afraid of spray
Always ready to duck
And always they’d rather be drunk

Let let die
And die to this

It was an art exhibition
The subject laid down
In the middle of the lawn
There in front of the capital
Flanked by a sparse crowd
Of mostly uninterested onlookers
As 30 men on onc side
All dressed in black
And 30 men on the other side
All dressed in black
Spaced themselves apart
Every 10 feet or so
The first 2 men in each line
Held two corners
Of a gigantic and beautiful
Shiny stretch of black satin.
They passed the satin
From one man to the next
Until the fabric
Ceremoniously covered
The entire lawn
A shimmering sea of black
The wind blew now and then
Creating tiny waves of black
But other than that
It was still and calm
And the crowd was so quiet
All could hear the faint plea
of the subject
Still laying
In the middle of the lawn
But now covered
As he said
It’s so heavy
It’s so dark
I can’t move
I can’t see
It was an art exhibition
And that’s how it feels
Each time to me

Again and again
In the Psalms
It is said
That living life
Close to God
Is much like
Living freely
In wide open space
And I picture
Fields of grain
And frilly white dresses
Flowing in the breeze
On a cool day
Which is a look
I could never pull off
For several reasons
But I admit
That the thought
Of vast freedom
Of airy wonder
Of perfect spring weather awe
Is a completely delicious thought
Especially now
When most days
My spandex-clad soul
Can barely move
Can barely breathe
Can barely stand
To be seen
As I really am
Oh I suppose
The truth is that
I would really like
The dance
The laugh
The exhale
And the light
Of that open space
I really would