a couch whose one end is lifted by
an especially strong boy
seems to almost not be there at all
for you

while if you ask the wrong person to help
it would have been easier to do it
by yourself

Possibly Related

• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• July 18, 2006 — H2
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids

Possibly Related

• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• July 18, 2006 — H2
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids

you know that you can’t do this thing
you don’t have the heart you know
you know what i’m trying to tell you
you know where it’s going to go

you know where this love will take you
you know the why if not the when
you know all the pain that’s coming
you will hate her in the end

you will hate her as you love her
you will wish you had not met
you will dream of her forever
you will always know regret

do this thing and you will know hate
do this thing and you will cry
do this thing and you will kill you
you will love her, then you’ll die

Possibly Related

• March 18, 2003 — mysterious powers
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids
• July 8, 2005 — if seething is believing
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• February 19, 2005 — you and i both

i’m sure to cut you: prepare for pain
i’m sure to scar you: you’re to blame

i’m sure to need to poke and prod and slice and burn and scrape
i’m sure to go in deep and drill you: numb and pain and ache

our time together’s for your good, now
don’t you ever doubt its true

i claim to help you by my hurting, gnawing painful screw

subjected now to pain and noise
of instruments of steel and speed

that bore deep into your body’s armor
digging out your flesh and teeth

that mouth you have
is quite diseased
filth had set up home, and wrecked

and i must scold you for the way my precepts you reject

i’ve made plain before you
how you are to change your shameful ways

and yet you have refused my teachings,
pretended truth can change

the consequences of your actions
are the pain you feel

this chair you’re sitting is is yours
you made it, i just heal

Possibly Related

• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids
• July 8, 2005 — if seething is believing
• May 17, 2005 — babysitter
• February 19, 2005 — you and i both

it’s perfect
it’s manly
it’s just what i need now
all of the other cars
are just way too darn small
i need to find me a woman who drives a choice hummer
i can ride to the grocery and i’ll be so very tall

the good thing about hummers
is you don’t have to care
if there’s an escort or sunfire in your way
you can pretty much assume that they’ll move or be sorry
so you’re free to talk on your cellphone all day!

Possibly Related

• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids

when most of the people who’ve ever lived
have died of hunger

Possibly Related

• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• July 8, 2005 — if seething is believing
• February 19, 2005 — you and i both
• March 18, 2003 — mysterious powers

if i plead with the air
if i cry to the night
if i hope against hope
if i burn at the slight

if i act very sad
if i mope all around
if i beg of the fates
if i wear only frowns

if i holler and yell
if i kick and i scream
if i shout all about it
if i get really mean

if i can not go on
if i lose all my tact
or
if i throw a tantrum
will it make you come back?

Possibly Related

• March 18, 2003 — mysterious powers
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids
• February 19, 2005 — you and i both

my father taught me to work
that a full day grants a good rest
to mean to do well when doing one’s job
to concentrate on doing one’s best

my father taught me to care for my wife
by the way that he cares for his own
she’s his most prized asset
his most wonderful joy
he knows that he’s got her on loan

my father taught me to do things on purpose
to plan and to mean to make good
to draw out and measure and measure again
get the most of one piece of wood

and my father taught me when i don’t do all this
to get up and try it again
and since my god goes with me that my life is bigger
than all of the sum of my sin

Possibly Related

• December 14, 2004 — sting
• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 6, 2008 — my niece drinks milk and chats
• July 2, 2008 — on trailmix and chex mix

anxious and nervous
and want the wait to be over
but still do not want the moment to appear

clocks can move backwards
when they know we are waiting
they sense that it’s tense and they like to play tricks

try to do small things
to slow down the worry
but brains betray and go back there right quick

Possibly Related

• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• July 18, 2006 — H2

when he rapes all your sisters and murders your brothers
and sets fire to your mom and your dad

when he kills hungry children
and sells them into slavery
when he prostitutes little girls

when he’s breaking up marriages,
when he’s bringing famine,
when pestilence he brings to shores

when entire tribes go to war with each other
when it is safe for no man

when he tells every one that there is no love
and so there is none in the land

when hate is the answer to all of your fears
and all who live are afraid

and when everyone’s looking over their shoulders
and then tripping into their graves

you tend not to notice
you tend to ignore it
you tend to just let him be

after all, you say, he is the evil one
it has nothing to do with me

Possibly Related

• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• July 18, 2006 — H2

Possibly Related

• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• May 14, 2004 — shoveling
• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable

they will drop and break them
they are thoughtless and careless
they might ask forgiveness, but they’ll do it again

people will ask you to take chances on them
even though chances
are the last thing they’ll take

what they do take
is all of your time and your feelings
and they take your heart, it seems, just to break

because, after all
people are failures
they must not be trusted with things you adore

because of their knack
for punching your soft parts
because of their knack for picking your sores

i don’t think that people
do all this on purpose
anymore, perhaps, than they mean to breathe

rather, they do it
just for survival
they think that you also have stuff up your sleeve

Possibly Related

• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids
• July 8, 2005 — if seething is believing
• March 18, 2003 — mysterious powers

and sometimes
(but not always)
it is the wisest course of action
to quietly slip away with only a kind word
of reassurance that
all will be well in the future, but
right now a trip is required

and sometimes
(but not always)
it is better to go be in public
and just allow a moment’s rest
to come and hold your brain

you see sometimes
(but not always)
it must be true that simply
slipping away from the place you are currently at
is likely a very good idea

because

otherwise

it is just too tempting

to kick a hornet’s nest

Possibly Related

• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• July 8, 2005 — if seething is believing
• March 18, 2003 — mysterious powers
• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids

i’m running from honesty
as too much hope
might contrast with the despair in my eyes

i’m running from honesty
as too much discernment
might read my mind

so i’m running from honesty
i can lie to myself
but never to you

Possibly Related

• September 14, 2003 — reflecting
• December 14, 2008 — choosing whom to trust
• December 14, 2008 — of writing.
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• October 5, 2006 — dentist

alright
i get the point already

you needn’t rub it in again
you needn’t make a show

okay
okay
okay
i get it

i understand
i comprehend it

i didn’t till just now
but now
i know just what is wrong

i know
i know
i know
i broke it

i know more empty words don’t help it
and speaking’s only likely to exacerbate the mess

but if it helps
or if it may
or if i can
i’d like to say
you must know and please
here
do believe me
when i say i try

its like my brain conspires against me
hates me
tricks me
never lets me

just do what i need to do
or tells me what that is

and so
and so
and so
and so

and on
and on
and on

i go

and steadily i dig the hole

that drives you from my side

Possibly Related

• October 5, 2006 — dentist
• May 17, 2005 — babysitter
• October 19, 2006 — inevitable
• September 18, 2005 — somewhere in africa there’s a girl who’s parents have died of aids
• July 8, 2005 — if seething is believing

Possibly Related

• July 18, 2006 — H2
• June 25, 2005 — why do we have bodies?
• June 2, 2004 — self deception
• January 18, 2004 — whatever you do
• September 14, 2003 — reflecting