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