STUPID GESTURE

I’ve been a tree and I’ve been hammered
Yellow leaves fall on the driveway
And everything feels manic
Listen to Black Sabbath and sail into my ashes
And call an old friend who complains that I’m a savage
And now, I guess, I’ll walk into this wall

And hope for a marigold year
To drag my body into the clear

Now that I’m a click-track and a skullcap
Everybody’s wishing that the missiles
And the smiles had hit their targets
The Scrabble game felt destitute
Your hands thrown up in hot pursuit
Of something no one saw or even dared to take advantage
And now I guess I’ll slump against this stall

And hope for a marigold year
To drag our bodies into the clear

The shadows feel important
But I’m never really sure just how to weigh them
Bags of autumn leaves and many beers
Inside my heart I love the mayhem

And drink you in a cellophane glare
Of twenty-something 6 o’clock stares
I’ve carried a thesaurus to a thousand awful parties
And it never helps to use it but it’s dear

The shadows feel important
But I’m never really sure just how to weigh them
Bags of autumn leaves and many beers
Inside my heart to help me slay them
I could cough all night and you would never even know
That I was here with you again
And maybe this is stupid, but I’m stupid
And romantic and a gesture
A stupid gesture