Tether

Sitting on the overpass,

watching the lights change.

The cars go on and on and on.

A woman sits to join me

and she passes me a match.

She says

'I could die tomorrow

and it wouldn't change a thing.

So why wait 'till tomorrow

to do what one could do today?'

Hey hey hey.

We emptied out her wallet,

let the wind carry away

the cards, coupons, little things.

We called her bank,

told them what she thought

of her outstanding debt.

'You stupid motherfuckers

won't ever see a goddamn cent.

You know I'm tired of the hassle

and I'm sure you can do the rest.'

Yeah yeah yeah.

I lit the match

she handed me her birth certificate.

It curled, smoldered to waste.

We stood,

she put her hand to my chest and started to cry,

you know her hair turned grey

to match her eyes.

And she said,

she said,

she said-

She asked

'Why's it hurt so much

to get out of bed sometimes?’

‘Why do people scare me so much

I can't ever go outside?'

I said

'if I knew the answer

well it might just make me rich,

if I didn’t spend every dollar I had

trying to reach you,

to lift us up out of this.’

'We are fresh out of the womb,

first to wake from sleep.

Something got in us too early

now it's too late to repeat,

but we can keep each other company.'