Where the Spirit Left Us

Through the wall in a soft spring rustle Or street-side selling some summer hustle And across the Maple Street Bridge in a bristling fall, whistling All's a balled up riddle, just a high snowball In a curve-and-fall through a parking lot at Christmas I heard her whisper I heard him call Here's what the gist was: Only wary in our lives Open-eyed and half-ashamed that is to say A float on a ferry, freezing, tired, fully wired, a total waste That's where the spirit left us Underneath the house Like a flameout teen who smells like sweat and gasoline Kid, I stand with you And when you're hard and your eyes get mean because you're on the march Well, I could almost kiss you Don't let them twist you Here, you can have this song - you can take it with you Stay lonely, open-wide Your eyes afire, your mind aflame Don't be disgraced Loose of limb, unlionized, while all liars fade to gray I know you feel detested Did a silence drop? Did your Walkman stop? Did the air turn cold? Was the message just so close? But did you choke it? Oh, kid, I know I know where this is going We always blow it Only wary in our lives Open-eyed and half-ashamed that is to say A float down that deep river, freezing, tired, fully wired, a total waste That's where the spirit left us Your eyes all fire, your mind aflame As this sobbing world goes screaming by And I swear that, if I had my way You know I would have blessed it