Don't Touch This

(You're the Best) the sun has a way of touching me gently like the skin of a peach, not the same way I feel your hands on me. I don't know in this moment which one I prefer, though you do both protect me from the wind. all I know is - you still love me, owe me? you make marks on me like I want to do to this page, I'm trying -

(Don't Wanna Be Your Girl) - trying to do, trying to be. being as an action, a choice - being as doing. I do want to see your face at home, I hope you can do me right. trying to decide. who knows what's right? hiding through disclosure - do we mean what we've said? what we say? what we will? what will we?

(Windows) you're moving farther away with each second and I can't tell if I'm chasing you or me or if you will ever come back. waiting out here by the water for the rosy-colored sunset - feeling sorry for myself - to smile on me, on us. trying to let words flow out of me like the river is hard when I'm fighting a current, the wind, your smile, your hands. when's the time for leaving? feeling sorry for myself. hiding from the exits, because I'm scared to open the doors to see you running without a backward glance.

(The Mother We Share) waiting for the warmth to descend with darkness, peeking over the horizon and calming the wind before he spills out of the sky and over the edges of the river to cover us all - I cannot wait to drown in warmth and the heat of darkness. into the night and we're the only ones left - a souvenir - waiting for salt water to spill out of my eyes, my heart, I want to overflow like I should be now.

(Soap) speaking of overflowing - I am tired of being careful, waiting for you to...? spilling. covering my hands with this white sweater, I'm trying to keep them warm for you, I know how you hate my coldness. I am trying. farther away by the second. plastic and water and light and reflections - I will not be the reflection

(Rivers and Roads) and always and never thinking about a year from now. where will I be, you be, we be? and will my hands still be this cold? not wanting to be a reflection, not wanting to be a shadow - not yours, not mine, not anybody's. is this always going to be the river, and when I'm gone, will there be a river? nobody can prepare for changes like these, thank you for giving me a chance to prepare, and fuck you for making me if you do, did, will. don't leave me hanging.

(Passenger) come out and find me in this storm, walk me home, dry me off, I was trying to find you. and I did find a you. not the one I was expecting - we can never prepare - who could have foreseen this, any of this? one good heart is plenty - but can't there be two? - and I'm off again, asking for things I could never have. right? sailing toward you, who wants to fight a current? would you, for me?

(Queens) maybe these songs are too old to make me feel enough, maybe I tried too hard too many times, trying to make it work, no matter how much it would hurt. that must be my catchphrase, my epitaph, my eulogy - no matter how much it did hurt. but. every time the wind settles and the sun touches for just a second it seems better, easier, but don't we all know it's never permanent? and there you are

(We Come Running) there's the sun, the smile, the great divine - soon they're gonna hear the sound, know the sound, us, you and me - how quickly the storm clears and the sun cuts through even the wind, the sound, echoes in the dead of dawn. now I see the sun rising over familiar hills, houses, streets lined with trees, the night after the end of the world, with no sleep and limbs covering limbs, tangled on a porch couch, streaming through the streets, circling the playground, lighting the sidewalk on fire, spilling a name, everyone, together.

(I'm Ready) you have got to let it go. staring at ______ like it's a language you could learn, and we are ready now. a new language, we are all changed. that night was the end of the world and we woke up to a new one with the sunrise, fresh and clean, no longer in blue, bruises healed - we are in a different world than before. we have seen what we needed to see, stared our demons in the face, and we were ready for a new language. and we have found it - new words, and a new world to hear them. nothing will ever be the same.

(Let's Get Lost) memories are outdated maps - we can see the old structures, crumbling under the weight of the things we have learned, have found, and we are navigating anew, a new world. let's get lost in it - how else will we ever find our way? I am itching to disappear in it - in you - to lose my way so I can make a new one, learn the paths so I can make the new map. anything is possible when there are no rules, no boundaries, no expectations, all new, nothing old.

(Symphony) right on time for new. finding our key without you. do we want the truth? we have a truth - let's not predicate our world on this, because you can never be sure that someone else won't let go. nothing is timeless, and everyone is new, waiting to be held tight. trying not to feel incomplete - we are all a part. not apart. new.

(Find You) starting to see a theme - let's map this out. who knows if I'll make it to the end - on my way to crazy, meet you there - and is the game ever fair? maybe when we are all a part, all together - that one night. never before, not that I can remember since. we'd rather jump than fall. knowing - hoping - you're the one. we never thought - who'd have ever thought? bringing the themes from the trees back to the city, 400 miles, stretching up - down? - the coast. who knew a map, a memory would reach so far? squinting into the sun - I think I've found my balance.