by Brian Gundersdorf
I found the paper I was looking for
At a stationary store
Put my hand down
And drew a word
One letter at a time
I studied every line
The way I once had learned
Now I’m faster every year
I’m better every time
I’ve been working my way
To the front of the line
Here we are
December 31st
It hasn’t been the best year
It hasn’t been the worst
I’ve been cutting out the carbs
tightening my speech
I’ve been pushing extra hard
Singing notes that I can’t reach
(We landed on these shores, no lungs no legs, no hope no way, all of our settings strange
Electric signals from our brains, our internets, our airplanes)
I’ve had enough
This year I’m starting off
Starting over
Starting over
I put my middle finger down
On the d string, second fret
and my index finger on the string above
and I played that single chord
I never got bored
Of the way it seemed to fit me like a glove
(Chorus)
When I sang
The word I’d written down
And strummed that chord out…loud
The two became
Some kind of new compound
This simple thing I found
Is all I need right now
Here we are
December 31st
It hasn’t been the best year
It hasn’t been the worst
I’ve been cutting out the carbs
tightening my speech
I’ve been pushing extra hard
Singing notes that I can’t reach
(We landed on these shores, no lungs no legs, no hope no way, all of our settings strange
Electric signals from our brains, our internets, our airplanes)
I’ve had enough
This year I’m starting off
Starting over
Starting over