Be Safe

One of those awful fucking black days

Where nothing is pleasing, and everything that happens

Is an excuse for anger

An outlet for emotions stockpiled

An arsenal, an armor

These are the days when I hate the world

Hate the rich, hate the happy, hate the complacent

The TV watchers, beer drinkers, the satisfied ones

Because I know I can be all of those little, hateful things

And then I hate myself for realizing that

There's no preventative, directive, or safe approach for living

We each know our own fate (Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

We know from our youth how to be treated (Be safe)

How we'll be received, how we shall end

These things don't change

You can change your clothes, change your hairstyle

Your friends, cities, continents (Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

But sooner or later, your old self will always catch up (Be safe)

Always, it waits in the wings

(Ideas swirl, but don't stick)

(They appear, and then run off)

(Like the rain on the windshield)

One of those rainy day car rides, my head imploding

(Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

The atmosphere in this car, a mirror of my skull (Be safe)

Wet, damp, windows dripping and misted with cold

Walls of gray (Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

Nothing good on the radio, not a thought in my head

(Be safe)

I know a place we can go

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

You'll wish you were dead

(Let's take life and slow it down incredibly slow)

I know a place we can go

(Frame by frame)

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

(The two minutes that take ten years to live out)

(Yeah, let's do that)

You'll wish you were dead

Telephone poles like praying mantis against the sky

Metal arms outstretched

So much land traveled, so little sense made of it

It doesn't mean a thing, all this land all laying out behind us

(Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

I'd like to take off into these woods and get good and lost for a while

(Be safe)

I'm disgusted with petty concerns

Parking tickets, breakfast specials

Does someone just have to carry this weight?

(Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

(Be safe)

Abstract topography

Methane covenant

Linear gospel

Asheville saleslady (Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe)

Stygian emissary

Torturous lice (Be safe), Mad Elizabeth

Be safe, be safe, be safe, be safe

(Chemotherapy bullshit)

Be safe

I know a place we can go

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

(The light within me shines like a diamond mine)

(Like an unarmed walrus)

You'll wish you were dead

(Like a dead man facedown on a highway)

(Like a snake eating its own tail)

I know a place we can go (A steam turbine, frog pond)

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

(Too-full closet bursts open in disarray, soap bubbles in the sun)

You'll wish you were dead (Hospital deathbed, red convertible)

(Shopping list, blowjob) I know a place we can go

(Death's head, devils dancing, bleached white buildings)

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

(Memory, movements, the movie unpeeling, unreeling)

(About to begin) You'll wish you were dead

I know a place we can go

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

(I've seen your hallway, you're a dark hallway)

You'll wish you were dead

(I hear your stairs creak)

I can fix my mind on your "yes" and your "no"

I'll film your face today in the sparkling canals

All red, yellow, blue, green brilliance

And silvered Dutch reflection

Racing thoughts, racing thoughts, all too real

You're moving so fast now, I can't hold your image

This image I have of your face by the window

Me standing beside you, arm on your shoulder

A catalogue of images, flashing glimpses, then gone again

I'm tethered to this post you've sunk in me

And every clear afternoon now, I'll think of you

Up in the air, twisting your heel, your knees up around me

My face in your hair, you scream so well

Your smile so loud it still rings in my ears

I know a place we can go

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

You'll wish you were dead

(Inefficient, distant tide of longing)

I know a place we can go

(Clean my teeth)

Where you'll fall in love so hard that (Stay the course, hold the wheel)

You'll wish you were dead (Steer on to freedom)

(Open all the boxes)

I know a place we can go (Open all the boxes)

Where you'll fall in love so hard that (Open all the boxes)

(Open all the boxes)

You'll wish you were dead

I know a place we can go

(Times Square, midday, newspaper buildings)

(News headlines going around)

Where you'll fall in love so hard that

(We watch as they go and hope for some good ones)

(Those tree shadows in the park here)

(All whispering, schicksing leaves)

You'll wish you were dead

(Around 6 p.m., shadows across the cobblestones)

Girl in front of bathroom mirror

She, slow and careful, paints her face green, mask-like

Like Matisse, "Portrait with Green Stripe"

Long shot through apartment window

A monologue on top, but no girl in shot

The light within me shines like a diamond mine

Like an unarmed walrus

Like a dead man facedown on the highway

Like a snake eating its own tail

A steam turbine, frog pond

Too-full closet bursts open in disarray, soap bubbles in the sun

Hospital deathbed, red convertible, shopping list, blowjob

Death's head, devils dancing, bleached white buildings

Memory, movements, the movie unreeling

About to begin