We Bought The Flood

I was born with a teacup on my head
Copper tin and lead, ash and dust
Sky color: Indiana Red
Like Kansas, Oklahoma, plus a thousand years of rust.

Examine it carefully before it's set ablaze
Take it all in before it's gone, gone, gone
Let's notice everything, I mean every grain of salt
Let's be thorough to a fault and next time
We'll build it twice as strong.

And all of this will disappear as quickly as it came
The fire and the rain oxidize and rearrange
Focus on the pain
Focus on the way to get out.

Virginia, 1902
There was nothing we could do, cracked bell fell off a train
Slow walking down Cedar Avenue
I came to find you, I came to feel urbane.

No more speed, no more direction
No more push and pull, and no more lessons
Save it for the afterlife, don't want to hear your confessions
It's the hammer walking, then it's the hammer down.

And all of this will disappear as quickly as it came
The fire and the rain oxidize and rearrange
Focus on the pain
Focus on the way to get out.