When the chair leaned too far, it rolled over Anything inside it so rolling over, too
Errant condition an eager reflex tried to stall Everyone is waiting, you don’t want to do this at all
Dust on the dining set Nobody sits here
Think of when we said we’d stay Think of the times outside Anything could have been inches away And we couldn’t see it (any place should we choose to lie No one would find us (out)) And I don’t have to learn from this mistake And I don’t have to learn from anything
We tried to hold, long as we could, To our reflections in the water Went under
Tried to build a fence to keep the geese from walking through the yard But geese can fly
There were empty houses down the street We sneaked inside them There were times in the basement We could swear there was someone upstairs then (odd echo, silent stone) You said we had best keep still You said part of you wished they would come for you anyway
There were empty trestles Where the train used to run through here Then someone fell off And died You faced it staying up all night You wanted to go there I hated the black hole I hated the skin surface overturning, Uncovering all the awful things that crawl around inside
I tried to hide the fact I came upstairs Hoping I would see you Tried to hide the fact I gave up coming to see “The worst is over”
Twisting and stepping over my stomach, I saw you walking back from my turning shoulder (everyone’s waiting) Sat against the wall in the hallway last night You asked me if I had felt a thing What could I say?