Chewing on a toothpick,
I knew I’d end up heartsick,
the final death of the candle wick,
The light that burned out long ago,
The night I said I had to go,
I was mad as hell, you were high on blow,
How was I s’posed to show you my love
When you couldn’t catch my heat with a major league glove,
You stood above, on your throne, wooden and golden,
In your regal zone while I sat there foldin’
In on myself, like a gin-soaked elf,
Wishing I had another fifth o’ whiskey from the top shelf,
If I did this for my health, I would’ve quit before I began.
Step up to the stand and I’ll declare your rights,
You have a right to clam up, a right to dance all night,
You know I’ll choose the latter cuz it restores my sight
That you took from me, like a blind man at sea,
Like a runner without knees
I stumble off the trail, mumble to these trees,
Seekin’ to seize some sense
From their staunch presence,
Launch myself from myself and into descent,
But the deeper I go the more that I moan,
Moan for you to be near, and this lostness of soul.
Looking into the eyes of no one,
Cuz your eyes are nowhere to be seen,
Blinding my eyes with the distant sun,
Not knowing what anything means;
Now I look into the eyes of no one,
Cuz your eyes are nowhere to be seen,
Now I blind my eyes with the distant sun,
I don’t know what anything means.
Sitting here with eyes closed,
Thinking ’bout what I chose,
And back to all the shows we performed together,
Back to all the storms we endured and weathered,
You shed me then, like a bird her feathers,
And now I can’t soar, like I’m trapped and tethered,
I sit below on the ground, hopelessly lonely
Now I sink and I drown, before you controlled me
You still do from afar, and nothing consoles me,
Friends try hard to cajole me, to restore the soul of me
But nothing they can do could fill this hole, you see,
You left me; nothing can change that fact
It ends finally in rejection, in the final act
Best to reject first, before gettin’ stabbed in the back
If I tracked you now, I’d find you scheming your next attack,
Getting your mask ready, putting on a happy face,
Doin’ the tasks necessary, to give the new man a taste
Of what you are capable of, you’re like a treasure encased
And your grip is inescapable, your lust for power insatiable.
Once under your thumb, chance of escape is negligible
I was born susceptible to Beauty and Passion
And I’ve searched for them both, in my personal fashion
What I thought I found in you turned to entrapment
Now I wander the shores, and the sea is my master,
Ripped asunder by ‘the more’, closing in on disaster,
I’ve lost the ‘before’, and I don’t know what comes after,
Except for this war, remorseless, and my mind my captor.
Looking into the eyes of no one,
Cuz your eyes are nowhere to be seen,
Blinding my eyes with the distant sun,
Not knowing what anything means;
Now I look into the eyes of no one,
Cuz your eyes are nowhere to be seen,
Now I blind my eyes with the distant sun,
I don’t know what anything means.
Well, so that’s the sad view
It don’t negate the glad view
I look up at the blue sky above the canyon wild
I want to explore it all with the instinct of a child
Lost in the roadless miles, i recall your angelic smile,
But I came here to forget that, and I’ve come to resent that
I so seldom saw that smile towards the end,
Ed Abbey’s Seldom Seen could be around this next bend,
Right around where Ruess disappeared and why pretend
I connect more with these two solitaires of the desert
Than I ever did with you and the torn sweatshirt
Of our love, how much more could I get hurt
And still find some meaning before the hearse,
Hope your purse is full, and you’ve found a way to pull
Your own onerous weight, great is the wool
You’d need to pull over your own eyes not to see
Just how much suffering you’ve inflicted upon me
But I’ll let it be, it’s in the past, no need to flee
What’s already behind me, now I’m back on the grind,
And work will be my new love, I’m only at the rind,
And who knows the sweetness I could well find?
No need to remind me of what I never forgot,
My mind is taut, and I’ll teach myself, reach
For what all that can’t be touched by hand,
You understand? I stand alone under the bridge
That separates ridge from river, and yes I shiver
You were the giver, and I received too much
I perceive too much, and it pains the brain
What do I gain by a mirror stained by time?
Is it not plain that I must do more than rhyme?
Fine, clear enough, but here’s where it gets tough,
For I want–I want–I want, but what I want I cannot say,
I wanted you, and look where that’s got me today,
Getting too old to play these games, seek this fame
That doesn’t mean anything anyways. It’s all the same
Only the names are changed, and I’d gladly exchange
This lust I feel now for the love I felt then,
But without that love’s end I wouldn’t be holding this pen,
If it weren’t for that den of lions, I know I’d still be dyin’,
But now I’m living, now I’m getting out on the road,
The world I thought you held, now I get to see it unfold.
Now I look into the eye of the storm,
And I listen for what cannot be seen;
Now I look for the formless in form,
I will listen to the silence to discover what it means
Brian Leibold 