Studying Stones

i am out here studying stones

trying to learn to be less alive

using all of my will

to keep very still

still even on the inside

i've cut all of the pertinent wires

so my eyes can't make that connection

i am holding my breath

i am feigning my death

when i'm looking in your direction

'course numb is an old hat

old as my oldest memories

see that one's my mother

and that one's my father

and that one in the hat, that's me

it's a skill i'd hoped to abandon

when i got out on the open road

but any more pent up emotion

and i think i'm gonna explode

there's never been an endeavor so strange

as trying to slow the blood in my veins

to keep my face blank

as a stone that just sank

until not a ripple remains

i am high above the tree line

sitting cross legged on the ground

when all of the forbidden fruit has fallen and rotted

that's when i'm gonna come down

'course numb is an old hat

old as my oldest memories

see that one's my mother

and that one's my father

and that one in the hat, that's me

it's a skill i'd hoped to abandon

when i got out on the open road

but any more pent up emotion

and i think i'm gonna explode