Laying adrift a bed made of quicksand Each grain slips through the lines in our hands Each one a promise and dream unfulfilled A hole at the bottom keeps out the shells I fall away from the heat and now I’m lost at sea A tide rolls passed with you on top of me I falter and flail but the lighthouse looks bleak An early night for the watcher whose eyes couldn’t keep By dawn the shore is littered with trash Lifeless bodies sit like craters who crashed Letters haphazardly written by moonlight Rest in bottles without corks, an address or postage A lifeguard steps up to his post for the day The flags wave wildly keeping tourists at bay I climb ashore, grabbing a bucket and pail She’s carving moats and reinventing the wheel By dusk the castle is fit for a king Decorated with plastic and recycled mail The wind picks up and the guard steps down He turns to leave and the siren sounds Scouring the beach for any indication That little girl and her mother, where were they playing? A mistake or malfunction, the silence looms overhead An empty beach lies before him without so much as a footprint

It was a set-up Ill-thought through but with good willed intention Besides, anyway What’s the worst that could happen Typing furiously On an app that mocked natural selection Pristine filters, A caption introspective Clearly more to the story missing full chapters Let alone pages Bark stripped straight from the tree it was made from The honey all sucked dry at the start of the season An early harvest without any put aside for safe keeping A squirrels nest the last place for reprieve and escaping The host unknowingly keeping warm the lizard mans baby The lizard mans baby

You know I don’t want to say it That night when we both declared it I don’t think we understood the underlying implications of such a casual conversation I know now I should have told you then When I first started to fit the pieces in But you and I aren’t the type to talk like this Have you ever wondered why that is? Hurry up I’m slipping in Give me something, anything Hands are shaking I’m losing grip Hurry up I’m slippin’ We really should have seen this coming There were warning signs all over it We weren’t going to make the same mistakes they did They always said we weren’t those kinds of kids I know now I should have told you then When I first started to fit the pieces in But you and I aren’t the type to talk like this Have you ever wondered why that is? Hurry up I’m slipping in Give me something, anything Hands are shaking I’m losing grip Hurry up I’m slippin in

It came rushing in like a landslide I felt your heart beating, steady pulse in my side All choked up soon as I heard you say The words I’d been repeating but couldn’t appreciate It knocked me to the ceiling Realizing my mistake Wanted to turn myself in But for what, who and when? Only one thing was certain and I had to find out Didn’t know if I deserved it but I had to know now Cause I don’t want to live without you anymore Feels like I’ve been missing out Don’t know what I’m still waiting for Shrouded in a cloak of doubt If there was ever any other way To have you by my side Know I would give up everything Just for the chance to try It’s leading me down a dark winding tunnel All the lights that lined the way burnt out Reached for support but the walls have crumbled Swept by by the rocks as they fell And I feel you watching as I hunt for the exit A door opens and two hands guide me to it Start to feel like I’m falling as I’m jolted awake And there you are by my side still sound asleep And I know that I don’t want to live without you anymore Feels like I’ve been missing out Don’t know what I’m still waiting for Shrouded in a cloak of doubt If there was ever any other way To have you by my side Know I’d give up everything Just for the chance to try

Last night I built a city And I hired a fortune teller Gave her a corner office like she asked She said that was inevitable Poured some water and took a seat For a complimentary read Man you wouldn’t believe the future that she laid out for me I’ve got a house instead of a basement suite I’ve got my band just up the street I’ve got a car at a rate that can’t be beat All my bills are paid on time and automated perfectly But that’s not all she said when I stood to leave I hesitated, "I’m not sure I can take the heat" She gestured, I sat reluctantly She started, “it’s not as bad as you might think You’ve got a job that takes you around the world And you don’t mind the people around you now And what’s this?" She flipped a card from the deck Of course, and your love life, how could I neglect!" She pulled out a pad of paper and pens Laid them out strategically, grabbed a sharpie instead Scrawled out with no forethought to appropriate spacing In barely legible 3rd grade handwriting She turned the page to have me take a look "Does this name mean anything to you, ‘cause I’m a little lost?" And I ripped back my head in a cackle As I held the page up in pure vindication I said, "you also forgot to tell me the song that landed him" As I pulled out an envelope from the inside of my jacket I said, "have you heard of the Arizona bandits? See the name on that page," I started, "was inevitable I’ve been hunting him down for years now, it’s tragic I’d write a song, a little out of key, That parts not an act I’m really still learning Frankly the prospect of presenting any of this has been More than a little overwhelming" The fortune teller tapped on the table in frustration, "Okay seriously tell me what’s happening?" I said, "I really thought you’d be more prepared for this interruption Fire up the delorean, let’s go back to the future" Where I reside even in the worst of circumstances I’ve got a place just north of Phoenix on a quiet street I’ve got a fridge full of food I actually like to eat And that guy cutting the grass is madly in love with me His name’s Jim Adkins but he prefers I call him Jimmy And we’ve got a dog with a name that’s ironic but sweet (like Bailey!) A hit song with at least like 3000 Spotify streams and climbing A tour plotted out and eyes on an RV And there’s probably more to this story but this is getting embarrassing...