1989

Father hit his head on the kitchen door
Mother broke her ankle on the theatre floor
While I was waiting patiently in a warm, dark safe
With a smile on
Father waited nervously by the hospital door

Mother placed the table with her apron on and her hair tied up
Father packed a suitcase with his clothes tucked in it and a face of disgust

While I remember vaguely
In their bedroom with the closet too small
I remember yelling from the hall

Mmm surprise I'm the apple of your eye
Ohh it is true this piece I wrote for you

I remember vividly on my fathers shoulders I felt so tall
Taught me how to tie my shoes on the staircase at the end of the hall

Well I was screaming manically at the bathroom ceiling with the water on
I remember sleeping with the light on

Now it's clear that I am no use right here
Take it slow we've got a long long way to go

Father held my homework up with a grimace and a hole punched in it
Father stood there softly with a big warm grin and his baseball tickets

I put my breath in a suitcase
For the politicians of that place and time
Mother broke her ankle in 1989

At the top of the town where you can be looking down
With the space and the air no one can find you there
Just the plants and sky, oh I almost went awry
With the sights and the sounds, you can sleep without a sound