Lead & Tin

I thought I had been shot

Been shot a thousand times

It's not a shocking way to die

In the fields this side of the enemy lines

But I've fired my fair share of guns

And I know full well that bullets

Don't just fall down from the sky

So I opened up my eyes

I saw a flash of light

I saw it through the black—whoa!

I saw the flooded track

I felt the hail upon my back

Oh, I saw the start of the foggy maze

I couldn't see for several days

But then a sunbreak finally burned away the haze

You know I'd kiss you if I could

Ah, but my lips are made of wood

And it wouldn't do to splinter you

In an unfamiliar neighborhood

I dodged a ball of flames

Fueled by the dust the sun'd kicked up

A stone's throw from the tonsil crypt

I eschewed the beaten path on a SUP

Tight-lipped and planing through

The murky millrace surface

These flavescent leaves

Crispy teardrops shed from crying trees

Murmurations

"'Tis autumn?"

"No, only fallout"

Sighed beside a chemical breeze

Oh, stratocumulus

Oh, circumbendibus

I saw and ceased to push

I'd seen and heard too much

My oar became a crutch

I sculled into a reef

It sawed the board in half

I saw my former single fin

I soldered lead and tin

I sauntered out

I saw interred my kith and kin

You know I'd hold this post a while

If I could only learn to smile

But by the time I earn the privilege

Only grimaces will be in style

Surf Scoter on the pond

Coyote on the fescue

Siroccos on the flesh

Globe lightning to the rescue

An earthly comet rolling by

A stoic guide toward a new clear era

No shadows cross the sterile mind

No leks distract the prairie-chickens from their terror

I found a brand new clearing

Next to the old new clearing

A welcome change

From the adjacent older new old clearing

I didn't feel at peace

But I didn't feel at war

A welcome change

You know, I went to your old home

You know, the site of your new grave

You know, I'd pay my last respects

But the respects I have I'd better save