The Mountainside

From time to time, 
Ideas tend to combine
in my brain’s circuit’s. 


All the facts and titles
quickly come to mind,
I can efficiently calculate numbers
in a quicker than average time, 
I recall the states and capitals 
With a relative, yawning ease, 
Along with the names of criminals
And the symptoms of each common disease, 
I adhere to the laws of traffic, 
Remember how to turn on the TV, 
Recite my favorite movie lines
with absolute accuracy. 


With few exceptions, 
My body tends 
to function properly. 


Each breath comes out slowly, 
I tap my foot to an even beat, 
Stand up straighter than I used to, 
And smile at everyone I meet, 
My muscles contract and then release
as I make my casual motions,
I wash my hair and scrub my face
and top it off with lotion, 
My heart it tends to read and react, 
My feet maintain an even stride, 
My ears seem sharper than most,
And I can see all the things that nowhere tries to hide. 


From time to time, 
I become lost 
in recollection. 


I remember every pearl
And I remember every smile, 
A fair portion of my firsts, 
Even if it’s been a while, 
I relive the moments of absolute failure, 
And the ones of triumph too, 
Stretches of self-destructive discomfort, 
Those never-ending days of feeling blue, 
Shame still sleeps in my moments of deceit, 
Like that ugly, restless feeling that hangs around defeat, 
And though I’ve slowly been wishing farewell to regret, 
I’ll never truly be free from the shackles of its debt. 


It should be a bigger deal to everyone
That kids go to sleep hungry, 
Why’d we break out country into states
And our states into counties?
Why are we itching to draw lines? 
Why do we put people in boxes?
In the woods the living roam free, 
No distinction between coyotes and foxes, 
Why can’t we be a little fuckin’ kinder?
We all got an illness we can’t cure, 
We’ve all fallen asleep at the wheel, 
Taken in chains by a chemical blur. 


From time to time, 
I forget that
I need other people. 


In a tense conversation of personal defense,
I found myself a truth previously unknown, 
It just found its way out, 
Like a bloodhound finds its way home, 
It wasn’t so much the words, 
But the thought they put together, 
Strange how a sentence can put you at ease,
Guess that’s why people believe in heaven, 
Selfish has always riddled my wires, 
I get lost in self-reflective analysis, 
But somewhere out in the desert, 
I was swept inside a lonesome abyss, 
The mind doesn’t flower without an idea, 
It needs a spark to ignite its understanding, 
But even if you’re glued to the underground
You can still hear the bird’s sing. 


From time to time, 
    Things align, 
        Intertwine, 
            Amplify 
                   and
                    Magnify 
            Dream    upon         the        mountainside
In my mind. 


Time’s never going to be the straightest of all lines, 
We fucked that up and no one fell off the end of the Earth, 
So, what’s yesterday got in store?
Who’s shining their shade into my daydream?
What’s it like on the razor’s edge?
Why do I keep sleeping on the couch
When I have such a comfortable bed?


It’s all out of order, man, 
You disappointed yourself before you did it, 
All of this happened in a blast, 
And now we’re stuck here living it.