Time is a funny thing
And this time is funny
Must stay with eyes open
Though work is done
And there are no projects
And I ache for sleep
But the 40 hours beg

And outside my door
There’s a riot
And I could be there
On one side or the other
Or as a referee
And I ache for sleep
But the 40 hours beg

Look at all the lonely people
I could bring encouragment and cheer
To some if not all
But I’m handcuffed to this desk
For three more hours
And I ache for sleep
But the 40 hours beg

The one thing I could work on
Rests in the wisdom of a coworker
Who is in a meeting
For another hour
So I twiddle and twiddle
And I ache for sleep
But the 40 hours beg

Tell me your darkest secrets
No I’ll tell you my deepest pain
But you are fascinating to me
But am I more than a curiosity

To be honest I just need intrigue
To be honest I need to be seen
To be honest I just want a nibble
To be honest I need fidelity

Why won’t you let me see you
Because there is more than you can see
Why won’t you let me study you
Because you don’t want the degree

To be honest I just need intrigue
To be honest I just need to be seen
To be honest I just want a nibble
To be honest I need fidelity.

I very much like that he tries
That little boy
His vocabulary is strangely limited
Yet He longs to communicate
In big boy terms
To say how vast with vast words
To joke with the stand-ups
And reason with the thinkers
His mind is a minute too small
Watching everyone run on ahead
And though he soldiers on
He knows He’s different
And I hope he knows
He’s not wrong

What I said
Isn’t even
In your phone book
You couldn’t access it
If you tried
Cause you don’t run
Or bark around
That sort of information
You don’t climb there
Or smell what I’m steppin’ in
And to a degree I suppose
It’s charming and sweet and precious
Yes, sure, out of one eye
But out of the other
It’s tired and perfunctory
Cause it takes no effort
To not see
It takes no strength
To not hear
If it is a try
It’s an empty try
Cause if I say
I don’t want to be
Yet lift not a finger
To stop the being
Then haven’t I chosen
Again and again and again
To be and be and be
And though my heart
May be right as rain
And free from malice
And free from mean
The neglect I didn’t intend
Is still neglect
And the me I’d rather become
Is a far off planet

That pain is so annoying
As it finger walks its way
Up the back of your neck
To your temples
A neck of pain
A dull ache
A sting in your chest
And weird numb arm
It’s cause for alarm

And the same ole fight
After all these years
A stupid dot-to-dot
Without a big reveal
A broken record song
Stuck on repeat
Like a bully with a bomb
Like a maestro with a baton
It’s a cause for alarm

And I just wish I could say
Night-night to this day
And sleep while doing
Something great
And maybe whisper
It all away
Through the smoke
Into the barn
It’s cause for alarm

To know a deep longing
Has been flung at your feet
As a grand invitation
To living
Is what bends a moment upwards
I quite like
To drink it in freely
To tap on each word
With careful contribution
Like a gift-giver goes about
Finding the perfect gift
Which completely satisfies
You and I have such opportunity
Again and again and now and then
So we must gulp and savor
And participate and be moved

Maybe I’m wrong
But in my experience
Nobody wants
To be an acquired taste
Not to everyone
All the time
Cause I think we all
Want to be known and loved
By an early adopter
By someone who liked you
Got you
Appreciated you
Wanted you
Desired you
Saw your something special
And pounced headlong
Into early fandom
And acceptance
Someone who got it
Who really really liked you
Instantly and in a snap
It makes me sad
That there are people out there
Who will always be kept
At an arm’s length
Acquired tastes
Who are appreciated in time
But never in the moment
I relate to these people
Perhaps only appreciated
From a distance
After some time
Or once their gone

Words wreck
Words reek
Vine to vine to vine
Hand over hand
Long swings
Just move to it
Just move through it
But a hack job
And ring around the scars
A brutal pirate
A gladiator proud
One at a time
And thrown in the swamp
Piled bodies
Of introspective chumps
Placed in cells of contemplation
They do not deserve
It’s only a small window
You can only see so much
No matter how long you peer
Even if for the rest of your life

Kitty means something
But lost on me
But glad you’re here
Since gelatin’s seep

Cry the homeless doggy
But lost on me
But glad you’re here
Since momma’s sleep

Breathe into the colony
But lost on me
But glad you’re here
Since the portable warm

Pray with the furry twins
But lost on me
But glad you’re here
Since the priest wore thin

Grey gray cut for cool
But lost on me
But glad you’re here
Since cold wind blew

Baby flower and a new friend
But lost on me
But glad you’re here
Since one two three

Find your fight
Drag your knuckles
On the ground
Pick your nose
And scrape your teeth
And grimace on

Fight your fight
Til you careen
Off the bank
Chew your nails
And call the races
Funny lookin’

You’re just a man
With a simple bone
And half a mind
A garden gnome

Flight your fight
Ditch the woman
She left you
Growl her name
And cry out senseless
Cause you’re alone

Fright your fight
With the air
Cuss babble
Spit your chew
Curse deliverance
And drink your due

You’re just a man
With a simple bone
And half a mind
A garden gnome