Follow me down the moonlit path Where owls hoot and wind can’t blow so fast Barefoot in the grass When you’re in this deepest space I try to read the lines upon your face Can you demonstrate? (chorus) Talk to me, just talk to me Kiss goodbye the sun Talk to me, just talk to me But god, it sounds so dumb I try to tell you what I’ve learned Please forgive me, I’ve forgot the words Some things you’ve never heard Reach through the fence and feel your hands Your grip is tight, you trust I’ll understand You’re such a lonely man (chorus) Talk to me, just talk to me Tell me where you’re from Talk to me, just talk to me Your hands feel numb I lost the map, I lost the key I lost the door, I lost the repartee I lost the sun, I lost the moon I lost the lake, but I still hear the loons

I try to bind the windows wide, but mostly I just sleep Curl up and wait for cobalt waves to thunder down on me The boats that shared the coastline lie buried in the deep So I'll float there like a corpse 'til I'm carried out to sea I need to hoard my breath Nurse it within my chest Drift until I meet ground If I arise, I'll drown. Some nights I awake in a jolt and can't breathe Grip desperate to blankets while grinding my teeth Plummet from nothing to nowhere so fast And pray the fresh crater I leave there will last I'll just lie here, and never grow old I'll stay 'til all my skin gets cold I'll wash ashore, I don't know when But soon enough I'll walk on land again

Hang me up to grow No one needs to know Clothes on the floor Locks on the door Hide in the cave Learn to behave Lick my wounds Cotton cocoon Wander through old rooms Searching for the womb Squander suns and moons I emerged too soon I’m a fucking mess Buckle under stress Leave me alone Let me make my home I feel weak I can’t speak.

We are in a cold place. We are alone tonight. My friend and I step out onto the concrete, beckoned out, towards the tempest. Flags flutter wildly in the gusts, desperate petrels in a ravenous cyclone. We come to the spit’s seaward end. The vast and menacing quilt of heaven looms above, threatening to drift down and smother us at any moment. Below me, the tumultuous froth crests of black depths. I run my numb fingers along the railings, cold and wet, rust forming throbbing tumors and infected fissures  where the salt spray seeps into the metal. Before me, a dark surf blasts and crashes and squelches and surges against massive slabs and through their countless unholy crevices I smell it:  the abyss is rising again. Past the treacherous reef tip, through the fog, a lighthouse sits on a rock-pile. Your glowing red eye stares back at me. You see me. They said they left you a long time ago, but I know your keeper. I imagine a dory paddling slowly through the swells, hauling oil The fueling is a fool’s errand. Only a churning maelstrom awaits my rower. The red light blinks. I loose my white knuckles from the railings and turn away from the nightmare  to face him.

You were my only friend, castaways on separate seas The voice on the other end, asking if I ever felt unfree You freaked out one night and cried, “there’s something twisted in my head,” Silent on the other side, I thought about your death in bed So what are you so afraid of? What did I do wrong? Did I lose you forever when you vanished in the fog? So what are you so afraid of? What did I do wrong? Did I lose you forever? We fought last night. I talk too much about myself You said I'd never cared for you, and this is how you’d always felt You called me again, and you were fucked up And all I could say would never be enough So I hope that you'll stay tethered to the ground I'm confident you've found a better confidante than me around So what are you so afraid of? What did I do wrong? Did I lose you forever when you vanished in the fog? So what are you so afraid of? What did I do wrong? I left the front door wide, l kept the porch lights lit But I need to get to sleep, there's a draft that's coming in I left the front door wide, I kept the porch lights lit But I need to get to sleep, there's a draft that's coming in I'm not gonna wait for you no more I'm not gonna wait for you no more, no I'm not gonna wait for you no more I'm not gonna wait for you no more, no. I'm too far down this path I hear crackling on the line And here where the ocean ends, there's a curve without a sign

I'm the February blizzard, I'm the hypothermic chill He dropped into my snow bank so I tucked him in my quilt At midnight I embraced him, but I blackened all his skin and when the April ravens vacate, I won't be seeing him again My shoulders are broad and barren plains My head is a cold and winding cave My hands are scalding lava flows Oh, it shouldn’t be a wonder why they go I'm an oak with arms outstretched, my leaves are shelter from the storm He came to me all shook and shivered, he came to me in search of warmth He came to me to seek my shadow, where the torrents couldn’t pound But soon the sky’s white veins, they split me, and my limbs, they pin him down My shoulders are broad and barren plains My head is a cold and winding cave My hands are scalding lava flows Oh, it shouldn’t be a wonder why they go I'm the loyal hunter's hound, I chase the rabbits down for you When meals are scarce, we chew on sundowns. The little scraps will have to do But after weeks of thinning winter, and my hunger's sinking deep, I'll rummage through your empty game bags and tear your throat out while you sleep My shoulders are broad and barren plains My head is a cold and winding cave My hands are scalding lava flows Oh, it shouldn’t be a wonder why they go

Nothing seems to shift from sun to moon But by the dawn, we’ve drifted out of view Shut the door and say “I’ll see you soon” But you wake up, and all the names are new 5 AM, out by the football field Boys and girls asleep in their tents But we watched from the press box as the sun rose up I loved you all so very much (chorus) Under the porch, up in the trees Wait in the gazebo, wade in the stream Under the bridge, out in the fields Give me that moment, that moment was real In the summer breeze beneath the stars We ate tabs and ice cream bars but then I shook hands with that canyon She said to me, “young boy, you are no one” (chorus) In your garage, by your bonfire Drive through the island, crawl through the brier Down railroad tracks, up on the roof Tell me your secrets, I need to know the truth Flakes of shale danced upon the surface Ripples dissipating as they spread I felt cold, I felt warm, I felt something Just my friends, the trees, and I, watching the sunset (outro) Did it mean as much to you? Did it mean as much to you? I’m losing track of time, the anchor snapped and the boat capsized My friends are sailing away And out there all alone, I’ll have no place to call my home But I can’t beg them to stay

Part 1: My head in my hands, I sprinted down the lane I try speaking to my father, he can’t know what to say oh no, oh no These memories are drowning me I wish that I could shut them off But everywhere I glance around, every surface of this town… you know, you know (chorus) But I’ll miss all the little cul-de-sacs in the town I used to call my home where every door hides a teenage ghost who cries alone I’ll miss all the little cul-de-sacs in the town I used to call my home where every door hides a teenage ghost who cries alone They skin their knees in cul-de-sacs  And raid the cabinets when the blue fades black Yellow street lights flicker on, and cricket whispers turn to song They glow, they glow I’m drawn to friends I’ve never had when the wind, it gets this bad and what I frame, it ain't the truth Perhaps we never feel our youth Who knows? Who knows? (chorus) But I’ll miss all the little cul-de-sacs in the town I used to call my home where every door hides a teenage ghost who cries alone I’ll miss all the little cul-de-sacs in the town I used to call my home where every door hides a teenage ghost who cries alone But leaves will always drop, and shimmer on the ground In high school baseball diamonds I watched moths circle 'round the lights Take flight, and burn themselves right down A spark in your eye, you flick the lighter twice Some things have changed, but you, you’re still the same How nice, how nice ... Part 2: If home’s a place If home’s a place Where there’s no fear Where there’s no fear Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here If home’s a place If home’s a place Where there’s no fear Where there’s no fear Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here Maybe it’s right here. ... “There was this sign that said ‘Drive slow for children.’ Every ten years or so, the sign would disappear. Kids grew up. And then in 15 years, the sign would be back. Our street was in a perpetual state, a loop of generations.”