It’s hard to let you go
Even though you’re ready
This first night comes with a punch
The bulk of my heart is in denial
But the rest is saying
Pay attention to this
Take the time to notice
And I do, I notice so many things
So many things about you
That pump me so full of pride
And capture my breath with wonder
For you are a gift to my soul
And you’ve made my soul a playground
You’ve graced my soul with light

My heart done
Bled on ya shoes
That’s what a kick’ll do
Bend a mind
Til grey matter flows

Stop a tongue
Real quick
From spillin’
Where ya
Don’t want it to go

Cause when
Ya done been shushed
Shushed good by the gods
Ain’t no one
Gonna give ya ear

At that crossing, Lord
What ya ’bout to say
And really need to moan
Best be scrawled
On the rear-view mirror

For better or worse
My whole life has been
A walk in the dark
In the stink of the city
After hours and alone

Cause I’m brave
Cause I’m driven
Cause I’m the kid no one ever thought would hurl the stone
Cause I’m the kid who thought he’d better give you a reason to worry
Cause I’m the kid, the invisible kid, who had nothing to lose

The rest of the group
Stuck close to the pack
But you could find me
In the stink of the city
The thick of the salty night

Cause I’m brave
Cause I’m driven
Cause I’m the kid no one ever thought would hurl the stone
Cause I’m the kid who thought he’d better give you a reason to worry
Cause I’m the kid, the invisible kid, who had nothing to lose

Didn’t hold the chain saw
Wrong side of the branch
Other people fell
In the stink of the city
But I’d a grey sense ’bout me

Cause I’m brave
Cause I’m driven
Cause I’m the kid no one ever thought would hurl the stone
Cause I’m the kid who thought he’d better give you a reason to worry
Cause I’m the kid, the invisible kid, who had nothing to lose

I miss the dagger
Sure, from time to time
So paper and pen
In the stink of the city
Must share the time-traveler

Cause I’m brave
Cause I’m driven
Cause I’m the kid no one ever thought would hurl the stone
Cause I’m the kid that thought he’d better give you a reason to worry
Cause I’m the kid, the invisible kid, who had nothing to lose

Come on, Kid
It’s swallow-time
Can’t let that truth
Just sit in your mouth all day
That’s gross

Come on, Kid
Make your bed
It’s swallow-time
Grown-ups been doing it for years
Boot straps – boot straps

Come on, Kid
Find the balance
Like a high-dollar waiter
It’s swallow-time
Drops don’t get tips

Come on, Kid
You did what you did
But now the tide is angry red
So do what you said you’d do
It’s swallow-time

Come on, Kid

Come on, Kid

There on the courthouse steps
She was finally brave enough
To profess her long-time love
For the husband of the preacher’s wife

Unrequited by the pastor
But a brave proclamation
A response to an accusation really
A heavily discerned shot in the dark

“Have you fallen in love with my husband?”
And with that, a reckless hand left a foolish mouth
And words as pointless as a collection of dolls leaped
“Yes. Yes I have. I do love him.”

And the world was made pregnant with two problem
The first settled easily enough
“I love my wife and am loyal to her.”
Could there be a more gentle rejection?

But that second problem, how could the world be ready?
For with that one swift confirmation
That the perceived villain was in fact valid
The universe had proven without a shadow of a doubt

That every potential villain that had ever breathed
That every inkling that had ever blinked
Was as valid as this wanna-be adulteress
Was as valid as the word of a friend of a friend of a friend

Oh, she puffed with proof
Oh, she puffed with pride
And long will live the sleuth
And long will live the suspicious gnat

You write and write
Until the ache is acknowledged
But never speak directly to the pain

Lord help us all
If that diva ever thinks
It has been invited center stage

Don’t talk down
But don’t build up
Just see, see and know

And say what is true
Even if it is hard to say
Even if it seems pointless

And don’t be afraid
To call the ache by name
For it has known you also

Which is worse
Solitary confinement
Or bisected consignment
When what is yours to hold
Is split in two for life
So sad when it’s time to clock out
Cause there’s dangerous room
For notions of nothingness
The absolute worst part
When nothing sticks
Or can possibly be expected
Cause the cover-up of valor
Is the build-up to flagellation
Always and always and always
In truth, I’ve lost all respect
For the inner chamber of the hive
It’s gross to me, so gross
Pathetic to me, uhg
And I have no desire
To watch it play out
Day after day after day
So the answer, I suppose
Is that I gladly choose
Solitary confinement
Every time
There’s more fellowship there

Even though I live in an abstract mind
I can’t be abstract in my directives
I’m learning that I need to be clear

If my communication is clear
And my directions are as clear as I can make them
Then all lingering questions are on you

I need to tell people what I need them to do
I need to expect them to do it
I need to tell them that I expect them to do it

And if another leader has failed or disappointed you
I need you to tell them and then follow-up to make sure you did
And you will need to communicate for yourself

I can’t judge you through my own circumstance
My ethics are not your ethics, my worldview is not your worldview
My integrity is not an absolution of your integrity

The reason people abuse my generosity
Is because I have become a laundry basket for all stank habits and behaviors
So my bark on the back-end is ten times louder than my whimper on the front-end

When I question myself
I stop living in my own integrity
And airbrush yours

$15,000 in 30 days
Yikes!
If that ain’t what comedies are made of

But, it’s not personal
Yikes!
I hope I never see personal then

And we got through it with friends
Yikes!
Friends who took it personally

To paint a person’s hands blue is cruel
Cause they will touch their eyes
They will get blue on their clothes
And the drops will follow them
As bits of blue dot their path
And, washing all that blue away
Is such an unrealistic thing
It will stay and remain and stain
It’s better not to treat people that way
It’s better to paint benevolently
Cause most people would do anything
For folks to circle the wagons around them
Most people would do anything
To make the cut simply because they exist