Angelique, I love you more than I always know to say But I know at times to you that won't appear to be the case sometimes it hurts so bad to feel another touch my skin even you, but that doesn't mean that I'm not lonely Don't let my youth deter you, Angelique Don't Let my youth deter you, Angelique Even though I'm much younger than you. and younger than I seem You know I’ll never hurt you and you know I won't desert you unless, of course, that's what you need from me but please don't let my youth deter you, Angelique And now you say you're leaving, and I'm happy, as i should be You deserve someone who's able, and holding you consistently in spite of all this I can't stand you seeing me this way As someone so at ease with having you to point the way. And I'll go back from the threshold but I'll dream about the door, And I'll know that you'll never be mine but, baby, I'm still yours. And you'll still have the same face with the same glow And I'll lie in the backyard where the pain grows... I wish I never told you about the kind of care I need I wish you'd never seen that part of me I knew that you would hate that part of me. But I won't let the fire burn you, Angelique No, I won't let the fire burn you, Angelique. Don't Let my youth deter you, Angelique Even though I'm much younger than you. and younger than I seem But, you know, I won't hurt you and you know I won't desert you unless, of course, that's what you need from me but please don't let my youth deter you, Angelique

He's got a hair trigger temper and a pristine bedside manner He's got a long lost brother with unpredictable grammar who asked too many questions so they took him off the family plan and if his mistress should burn his panini you know what they say an eye for an eye a grilled cheese for a hand and he'll summon the groundskeeper he’ll beat out his animus and he wears it like a mask and is passably magnanimous and with a banjo in hand he plays old-style clawhammer he says 'they didn't know it was there--they won't know when it's gone' as he poisons the headwaters of the tiny little stream that flows down to the valley of his tiny little dreams so nobody can be bothered by his tiny little screams. you miss the bramble and the briar for the fox there within When no question begs the answer and there's barely a pulse to be found only old celestial whimpers and half-truths floating round He'll say "take two and call me every morning" (but when you're certain that there's nothing left) you'll Find Chris He's got a hair trigger temper that he thinks he keeps well hidden He's the long-lost brother who you forgot was even missing he was laid up for too long and he never had a plan but if his mistress should burn his panini you know what they say an eye for an eye a grilled cheese for a hand and from his living room he calls up this desperate little man that he pays in cryptocurrencies so he'll pretend to be his friend they do lines together til he's able to speak with candor with a banjo in HIS hand he plays old-style clawhammer he says 'they didn't know it was there--they won't know when it's gone' as he poisons the headwaters of the tiny little stream that flows down to the valley of his tiny little dreams so nobody can be bothered by his tiny little screams you miss the badger and the log for the haberdashery and the frog when the veil is finally torn you'll see the fox for all he is When no question begs the answer and there's barely a pulse to be found only old celestial whimpers and half-truths hangin' round HE'LL say 'take two and call me every morning!' The turquoise will dissolve and sift between the knuckles of your fist and you'll find Chris (When you're certain that there's nothin' left) you'll find Chris

In the year of the beast when the red moon won't wane by foxfire light--skinny gladiators fight to the hiss of a rattlesnake choir since the sky was no limit for those tipped off last minute with their hands gloved in white they'll proffer caged dragon fire and the pyres burning bright just outside the stonewalls will warm the well-fed few there within and when the smoke clears and the snow turns to rain you'll see it And in a sports car on Ferenginar I'll finally have it all But when the revolution comes and they tear down that wall I'll call you when I find myself beneath it Oh, I was jet puffed I was a strange ghost I was a slot machine in a suede hat and in a factory on Starbase Montgomery I tried to leave it and you know that I love you so much when I've got food at home in the refridge But when the hunger is all that remains You'll see it.

In the mid-morning sunshine On a lawn dense with dew I'll be the last one to cry over you All night long and then the day after I've never been so consumed for so long Writhing on stage there's a dry oaken laughter I go up and down the aisles with the fingernail chalk And it struck me as a rash decision Saying you'd loved me ever since I first encroached your line of vision I was an actor in remission-I only told lies by omission And you tried, and tried so hard to tell me all about desperation and left flank numbness and this great "Golden Age of avant-garde cable television" And I can't say that I believed you but who was I to say? Every time I tried to dress my best you said 'there's something in the way.' You spoke of unstrained mercy like some moral attache--of great boulevards in Paris named for places we can't stay. Or maybe that was me. But I thought I had some notion of the world beneath your face; that one time you did ecstasy you seemed to handle it with grace. I even thought I had some idea of the world inside your heart; you said 'there's strength in softness' sneaking glances at my cards. I thought I was a loser, babe, but it was just a false alarm and you asked if you could paint me 'with my secrets all in view' and what you kept beneath your wreath, my dear, I even thought I knew—but I saw resentment in your eyes; it chilled me through and through and upon your filthy carpet you had me sprawled out in the nude. And I forgot the name of the commander-in-chief. You said 'if you're gonna have a stroke on me--could you please keep it quiet? Could you at least keep it brief? It was I Spit on Your Grave and A Boy and His Dog and Mad Maxine on Paximadia. In the bottom left hand corner, you signed Chairman Mao Zedong--like all the rest of the self portraits that decorated all your walls. And in a fortress of purple, babe, with beaucoups of blues I'll be the last one to cry over you and in a benzodiazepine haze, baby, with glasses askew I'll be the last one to cry over you and in some mezzanine in between place, baby, watching the headline news I'll be the last one to cry over you

From Detroit to Denver everybody knows my name I always said I'd hit the big time I never thought it'd be this way and you always said it was taking too long and when the going gets tough the tough the tough get going and your gone When the going gets tough the tough get going and you're gone I made a choice at a fork in the road and I could've gone right but I was never that strong You showed me a light I should've found on my own but when the going gets tough the tough get going and you're gone

For eight long years I've tried to teach you how to swim and I'll still hope and pray that I read or hear that you dove in but it gets hard to see you standing there just staring at the water and I don't love you anymore but one time I think I did. I tried and tried to wait to leave 'til you could get up off your knees but those difficult days turned into miserable weeks and there's boulder upon boulder bearing down upon your chest and I'm not too blind to see I'm right on top of all of it as my love for you grows colder you cling tighter to my wrist and I don't love you anymore but, God, I wish I did. She strolled out on her 13th floor balcony and saw the moon drenched tide caress the shore. Her gaze was drawn then to the street 13 floors beneath her feet and she heard the breath of lover-speak she realized she wasn't the only one awake at 5:15 but she was the only one alone. It was then she found the strength to leave. She still had a life to lead. I tried and tried to wait to leave 'til you could get up off your knees but those difficult days turned into miserable weeks you can't love someone else 'til you're better to yourself and I wish you could see what I once saw myself But wishes are for anglarfishes between two worlds without a light and I can't love you anymore without extinguishing mine.

We all sat on the floor ahh, in the den we were all drinking coffee you, me, and your friends And I saw your face light up and your eyes grow less dim when the conversation turned to your dear memory of him And, back then, I couldn't have told you much about jealousy and rage they were just words I'd seen typed up in a book, on a page revenge and justice, they were just words I had heard But that was before I met Grace and found out who her mom and dad were 'But you can only ever hurt them when they love you, and you'll only ever hurt the ones you love and when the teardrops turn bright red they'll desert you and no matter how sharp the words that your wicked heart dreams up it can never, ever be enough' And Revenge is just another prayer at your alter and I'm finally free

The blue streak on her front tooth in the stillness of the midnight when I knelt and prayed that these moments so precious to me would always unfold Before long I'll forget the sound of the words and the way she made happiness fill up my soul. I'll cling to the graphite, I'll find my own light. When I burst through the door and I open my mouth--you'll know from the first it's the truth but I'll always remember the sound of her heels and the blue streak on her front tooth.